Miranda, the closest of Uranus’s large moons, has a varied surface of craters, valleys, faults, ridges, and canyons.
Three large regions have ridges and valleys reminiscent of a plowed field.
One of the regions displays a large V-shape called a chevron.
A system of canyons, some as deep as 12 miles (19 km), can be seen on Miranda, as well as ice cliffs soaring 12 miles (20 km) high.
Astronomers believe that the varied land formations of this rocky, icy moon may have resulted from a number of severe collisions or the gravitational force of nearby Ariel.
Miranda was discovered by Gerard Kuiper at McDonald Observatory on the 16th of February, 1948.
In Kuiper’s report of the discovery, the moon was named after Miranda from William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest”.
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