The NASA team investigated the interior structure and composition of all large moons — Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, and Miranda.
Water is the elixir of life, and the ultimate goal of space exploration has been to find liquid water beyond Earth. If discovered, these cosmic worlds would be the most compelling places to look for answers to whether there is life beyond our home planet.
Titania, which is nearly 982 milesacross, has primarily captured the attention of astronomers in recent years. Because of its enormous size, it is expected that the moon will be able to retain internal heat, implying that the liquid water will not freeze. They also investigated additional potential heat sources in the rocky mantles of the moons. According to the authors, only internal heat would be insufficient to sustain the moon's subsurface ocean.
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