Whenever Uranus is mentioned, it is inevitable to talk about its lunar system and how "boring" it seems compared to the rest of the satellital organization that are around the other “giant planets”, but In reality, the "boring" nature of the moos is the result of the few information we have about it. Due to how difficult the satellite system is, Voyager 2 was unable to pass close.
So, what's so interesting about Uranus? Among its satellites, Miranda (one of its moons) stands out most. is very famous because of its shapes and cliffs that are drawn on its crust, they are commonly known as the “Verona Rupes”, But, knowing the situation of this planet and its satellites, what could we know about the other satellites on this system?
Well, Ariel is a relatively small satellite, it is the brightest moon of Uranus and its surface is marked by craters which make this heavenly body famous and attractive to the sight. But its most relevant characteristics are the large indented valleys that extend over the entire crust. The flow marks could have been made by ammonia, but what's so interesting about this?
Well, ammonia is a great antifreeze. And,considering that Uranus' moons have an outer crust of icy water, the ammonia would have allowed the satellite to keep an underground ocean in a liquid state for much longer than is believed.
Ariel, in particular, was found to have very young areas, and this youth could be due to the crio volcanic activity. If this is correct, Ariel's surface should show deposits of ammonia ice mixed with water ice and ammonia salts.
This implies that Ariel could have an underground ocean today, it would be a candidate for an oceanic world, likeTriton or Pluto. If so, we believe that one of the priorities should be the dispatch of orbiters, to see what mysteries this moon hides.
By Laura Rodríguez and
Sofía Moreno, Step 9 Blue
