Study of Uranus' large moons shows four may hold water NASAJPL
In all, at least 27 moons circle Uranus, with the four largest ranging from Ariel, at 720 miles across, to Titania, which is 980 miles across. Scientists have long thought that Titania, given its size, would be most likely to retain internal heat, caused by radioactive decay.
"When it comes to small bodies—dwarf planets and moons—planetary scientists previously have found evidence of oceans in several unlikely places, including theCeres and Pluto, and Saturn's moon Mimas," she said."So there are mechanisms at play that we don't fully understand. This paper investigates what those could be and how they are relevant to the many bodies in the solar system that could be rich in water but have limited internal heat.
The study revisited findings from NASA's Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus in the 1980s and from ground-based observations. The authors built computer models infused with additional findings from NASA's Galileo, Cassini, Dawn, and New Horizons , including insights into the chemistry and the geology of Saturn's moon Enceladus, Pluto and its moon Charon, and Ceres—all icy bodies around the same size as the Uranian moons.
In fact, Miranda, the innermost and fifth largest moon, also hosts surface features that appear to be of recent origin, suggesting it may have held enough heat to maintain an ocean at some point. The recent thermal modeling found that Miranda is unlikely to have hosted water for long: It loses heat too quickly and is probably frozen now.
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