Ariel

Source: NASA

Ariel, in her dusky, valley-world beauty is quite the sight for sore eyes after little Miranda.  She’s the first crevassed and caved body that emerges out from inside Uranus’ threshold, after Miranda. 

Quite different in size, Ariel bursts forth in a hazy hue that isn’t like any other moon I’ve seen.  Thought to be the youngest surface among the planet’s larger moons, this satellite is riddled with grabens, which are defined as “fault-bounded valleys.” The grabens catch your eye amidst the rest of the moon’s features most likely because the moon has experienced the most recent geologic activity- in addition to some recent collisions that have erased some of the older craters. Of all five large moons orbiting Uranus, Ariel is the brightest- which doesn’t mean too much considering they’re all pretty dark. It’s thought that some material is darkening the surface of these five bodies… but who knows until we get there, right? Ariel and her four larger sisters are all pretty porous and take on whatever temperature they’re cast into, whether that be the blinding and scorching sun or the dark and frigid abyss of the lack thereof.  This valley world still has so much to show us, but no technology has graced its presence since Voyager 2 in wait for it… 1986!!! There currently aren’t any missions targeted to go to the outer planets, but I’m optimistic after we visit some other bodies (cough cough mars) that it’ll get bumped up in priority. Who knows, maybe I’ll be the frontier for that mission ☺ stay tuned!!!