Miranda is one of the moons of Uranus. It is one of the five major moons of Uranus, similar to Saturn’s medium sized moons except that it is much less reflective. It is not one of the largest moons of Uranus. It is actually a small moon only 470 kilometers wide. However it is the most interesting of Uranus moon because of its unusual appearance.
Miranda is one of the icy moons of Uranus. It is one of the smallest icy moons. It was discovered by Kuiper in 1948. It was named after Miranda from William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest”. Unlike the other moons in the solar system, which are named after Greek and Roman mythological figures, the moons of Uranus are named after characters from classical features. It was the moon that was approached the closet by Voyager 2. So far the only close up image is from the Voyager 2 observation in 1986. During the fly by the southern hemisphere of the moon was pointed toward the Sun, so only that part was studied. Miranda shows more evidence of past geologic activity than any other Uranus moons. It was the last moons of Uranus to be discovered prior to Voyage 2 visit in 1986.
It surface is unlike anything in the solar system it looks like a mixture of different surfaces , some quite smooth, some ridged, some density cratered and others where it appears to be filled with lines of crack where meteorite and comets have seen to have shattered the surface. Scientists believe that Miranda was shattered by an impact from an asteroid, meteorite, or comet. Miranda is thought to be composed of about ice and half rocky material. The temperature of this icy would average just -335F. Astronomers had expected this moon to show little or no history of internal activity, much like Jupiter’s moon Callisto. But when the images came back from the Voyager 2 probe, everyone was amazed by what they saw. There are huge faults, deep canyons, steep cliffs, smooth plains, and curiously shaped rifts. Recent theories suggest that the up welling of partially melted ices may be responsible for these curious surface features. The real reason is still a mystery.
The most remarkable features on Miranda are known as the “chevron” It is a series of light and dark grooves in a V-shape. This large feature dominates most images of the moon. Miranda also contains fault canyons as deep as 12 miles deep. Several faults crisscross the valleys and ridges on Miranda. Some of these faults produce steep cliffs, or faults scraps. The largest of these cliffs is 3 miles high, nearly three times as high as the walls of the Grand Canyon on earth. The rest of Miranda’s surface is littered with grooves and craters. Many of these have exposed underlying material with a different albedo. Some of these ridges have been referred to as “layer cakes” or racetracks due to their unusual appearance. Miranda has no detectable atmosphere and no magnetic field.
Miranda’s past geological activity is believed to have been driven tidal heating at a time when its orbit was more eccentric than currently. Uranus’s moon Miranda is thought to have had as much more eccentric orbit than it does today. It would have warmed due to the gravitational pull exerted by both Uranus and other Uranus moons. Scientists maintain that Uranus’s moon Miranda previously was in an orbital resonance with both Umbriel and Ariel. This resonance would have also helped to heat Miranda’s interior. Not since over two decades ago has a spacecraft visited Uranus’s moon Miranda.

Work Citied
"Solar System Exploration." Solar System Exploration. Ed. Phil Davis. NASA, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/>.