Uranus Moons Titania & Oberon.

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

In responce to the Aproaching Iapetus thread (which I have found fascinating & Vogon13 has made it more so with his / her insights & knowledge, I would like to start something on the two largest moons of Uranus. Please note that the Uranian system at the time was observed Pole On by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, as the tipped over Uranus system was close to a 'solstice'. This is really for those interested in Planetary Science. 1). Does anyone think that Titania may have or have had a subsurface ocean?? 2). I think that it may have had in the past due to a generally smooth surface & large tectonic faults. Subsurface ocean or tidal stresses or cryovolanic activity? Cryovocanoes erupt slushy ice which then freezes solid, not molten rock as on Earth, Io, Venus, etc. 3). Does anyone think that Oberon has displayed evidence of Cryovolcanic activity? 4). Both Titania & Oberon are very similar in size to the Saturn moons Rhea & Iapetus, yet all four are very different. Rhea I think is the least interesting as it seems to be nothing more than a giant cratered iceball. In size order largest first (diameter). Titania: 1,578 KM / 980 miles. Uranus system. Rhea: 1,530 KM / 950 miles. Saturn system. Oberon: 1,522 KM / 945 miles. Uranus system. Iapetus: 1,440 KM / 895 miles. Saturn system. Iapetus on the other hand is fascinating, will not say more here as we already have a great Iapetus thread. Titania & Oberon have clearly seen more geological activity than Rhea. Titania appears to have seen the most out of the four. 4). Oberon clearly has a rougher surface than its slightly larger sibling Titania, has tall mountains, hilly & large dark floored craters. I will start something on Miranda & Ariel when I have time. I have different questions for these. It was a shame that New Horizons 2 did not happen, as <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Tectonic canyons on Titania. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Oberon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Tall mountain on Oberon. Central peak of impact crater or Cryovolcano?? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Oberon dark floored craters. Evidence of carbon rich Cryovolcanic activity? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Oberon dark floored craters. Evidence of carbon rich Cryovolcanic activity? Image did not attach. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

alokmohan · Jul 21, 2006

What is cryovolanic activity?

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Hello Alokmohan, Cryovolcanoes erupt slushy ice, not molten rock as on Earth & Io. Cryovolcanoes are cold, although they are still driven by a heat source. The Neptune moon Triton has them in abundance as does the Saturn moon Enceladus. They are suspected on Titan, on the Jupiter moons Europa & Ganymede possibly Callisto (I doubt it), the Uranus moons, Miranda, Ariel, Titania & Oberon & possibly Pluto & Charon. The Kuiper belt objects 2003 UB313, 2004 DW & Quaoar may also have them. It has even been suggested that asteroid 1 Ceres may have them. In the case of the giant Saturn moon Titan, the cryolava could be a mixture of water & ammonia, which can exist as slush in temperatures as low as Minus 100 Celsius, before freezing. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

alokmohan · Jul 21, 2006

I am enriched.I knew of only rock pelting volcanos.In future space exploration.we may know more about cryo volcanoes.Interesting.

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

I sincerely hope so. They look like 'Normal volcanoes' but are made of ice. Below is a suspected Cryocvolcano on Titan with a caldera 19 kilometres / 12 miles across & perhaps 150 metres / 500 feet tall, as seen by the Cassini orbiter in Infrared light. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 21, 2006

Map of Cryovolcano on the Saturn moon Titan. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 22, 2006

If the moons were captured, I would have thought that would remain more or less in the plain of the ecliptic, possibly in a polar orbit around Uranus. I still think that at higher resolution, they will prove to be interesting objects. Both Titania & Oberon have shown signs of Geological activity & are just not cratered, colder versions of Saturn's Rhea (Average surface temperaturs of Rhea = Minus 180 Celsius, Titania & Oberon = Minus 215 Celsius). When I have time I will do some further research & post some more images with my findings. I agree about Miranda though. I will start a Miranda, Ariel & Umbriel thread when I have time. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

vogon13 · Jul 22, 2006

As it turns out, the mass ratio and physical dimensions of the Jupiter system scale down quite closely to the Uranian system. A Galileo style orbital tour of Uranus and it's satellites is quite possible. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!So many people, so few recipes !!Let's clean up this stinkhole !! </div>

3488 · Jul 24, 2006

I agree. A Galileo / Cassini type mission to Uranus would be possible. Uranus is certainly peculiar due to the 98 degree tilt for reasons not fully undewrstood (a collision with a two Earth mass object was one likely explanation). The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed that Uranus is having a stormy season as it approaches an 'Equinox' next year, & is looking more like Neptune, than the bland face presented to Voyager 2 in January 1986. It is a shame the New Horizons 2 did not happen, as that would have passed through the Uranus system, soon after the equinox, revealing a Uranus that would have been somewhat more active than Voyager 2 saw, & could have compared the images & data from the two spacecraft to learn why the difference. Also New Horizons 2 would have been able to image the five largest moons in their entirety. Voyager 2 provided a good data set on their southern hemispheres, particularly Miranda & Ariel. It would be great to see what Miranda looks like in its entirety, if the northern hemisphere matches the southern in the types ofvaried terrain. Vogon13, I understand that the Jupiter, Saturn & Uranus systems disply the same ratio of 1 / 10,000 between the parent planet & the combined masses of their moons. I also understand that this has been simulated in computers to show that this may well be the norm for gas giants around most stars, therefore lessening the chance of finding an Earth like moon in orbit around an extrasloar gas giant (The Gas giant would have to be some 10,000 Earth masses at least if the Earth like moon was its only moon. Seeing as Jupiter has a mass of 318 Earth's, the Gas Giant would have to be some 31 times the mass of Jupiter, hence a brown dwarf). I know that the Neptune system breaks that, but that could be explained by Triton being an interloper. Below is an enlargement of the smoothish circular feature on Titania, alm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 24, 2006

Oberon terminator. To me it looks as if some of the craters have 'softened', as if the surface was not totally solid. The heat from the impacts may have been responsible, but some of the other craters of similar size do not show this. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 26, 2006

Oberon in approximate true colour. The dark reddish colour due to radiation altered methane ice? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Jul 26, 2006

Titania in approximate true colour. The dark reddish colour due to radiation altered methane ice? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

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