|
Miranda (moon)
Miranda, also designated Uranus V, is the smallest and innermost of Uranus's five round natural satellite, satellites. It was discovered by Gerard Kuiper on 16 February 1948 at McDonald Observatory in Texas, and named after Miranda (The Tempest), Miranda from William Shakespeare's play ''The Tempest''. Like the other large moons of Uranus, Miranda orbits close to its planet's equatorial plane. Because Uranus orbits the Sun on its side, Miranda's orbit is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic and shares Uranus's extreme seasonal cycle. At just in diameter, Miranda is one of the smallest closely observed objects in the Solar System that might be in hydrostatic equilibrium (spherical under its own gravity), and its total surface area is roughly equal to that of the U.S. state of Texas. The only close-up images of Miranda are from the ''Voyager 2'' probe, which made observations of Miranda during its Uranus flyby in January 1986. During the flyby, Miranda's southern hemisphere po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voyager 2
''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, as a part of the Voyager program. It was launched on a trajectory towards the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and enabled further encounters with the ice giants (Uranus and Neptune). The only spacecraft to have visited either of the ice giant planets, it was the List of artificial objects leaving the Solar System, third of five spacecraft to achieve Solar escape velocity, which allowed it to leave the Solar System#Farthest regions, Solar System. Launched 16 days before its twin ''Voyager 1'', the primary mission of the spacecraft was to study the outer planets and its extended mission is to study interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. ''Voyager 2'' successfully fulfilled its primary mission of visiting the Exploration of Jupiter, Jovian system in 1979, the Exploration of Saturn, Saturnian system in 1981, Exploration of Uranus, Uranian system in 1986, and the Exploration of Neptune, Neptunian system ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrostatic Equilibrium
In fluid mechanics, hydrostatic equilibrium, also called hydrostatic balance and hydrostasy, is the condition of a fluid or plastic solid at rest, which occurs when external forces, such as gravity, are balanced by a pressure-gradient force. In the planetary physics of Earth, the pressure-gradient force prevents gravity from collapsing the atmosphere of Earth into a thin, dense shell, whereas gravity prevents the pressure-gradient force from diffusing the atmosphere into outer space. In general, it is what causes objects in space to be spherical. Hydrostatic equilibrium is the distinguishing criterion between dwarf planets and small solar system bodies, and features in astrophysics and planetary geology. Said qualification of equilibrium indicates that the shape of the object is symmetrically rounded, mostly due to rotation, into an ellipsoid, where any irregular surface features are consequent to a relatively thin solid crust. In addition to the Sun, there are a dozen or s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titania (moon)
Titania (), also designated Uranus III, is the largest moon of Uranus. At a diameter of it is the List of natural satellites by diameter, eighth largest moon in the Solar System, with a surface area comparable to that of Australia. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, it is named after the Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream), queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Its orbit lies inside Uranus's magnetosphere. Titania consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock (geology), rock, and is probably differentiated into a rocky core (geology), core and an icy mantle (geology), mantle. A layer of liquid water may be present at the core–mantle boundary. Its surface, which is relatively dark and slightly red in color, appears to have been shaped by both impacts and endogenic processes. It is covered with numerous impact craters reaching up to in diameter, but is less heavily cratered than Oberon (moon), Oberon, outermost of the five large mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umbriel
Umbriel () is the third-largest moon of Uranus. It was discovered on October 24, 1851, by William Lassell at the same time as neighboring moon Ariel. It was named after a character in Alexander Pope's 1712 poem '' The Rape of the Lock''. Umbriel consists mainly of ice with a substantial fraction of rock, and may be differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle. The surface is the darkest among Uranian moons, and appears to have been shaped primarily by impacts, but the presence of canyons suggests early internal processes, and the moon may have undergone an early endogenically driven resurfacing event that obliterated its older surface. Covered by numerous impact craters reaching in diameter, Umbriel is the second-most heavily cratered satellite of Uranus after Oberon. The most prominent surface feature is a ring of bright material on the floor of Wunda crater. This moon, like all regular moons of Uranus, probably formed from an accretion disk that surrounded the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariel (moon)
Ariel is the fourth-largest moons of Uranus, moon of Uranus. Ariel orbits and rotates in the equatorial plane of Uranus, which is almost perpendicular to the orbit of Uranus, so the moon has an extreme seasonal cycle. It was discovered on 24 October 1851 by William Lassell and named for a character in two different pieces of literature. As of 2019, much of the detailed knowledge of Ariel derives from a single flyby (spaceflight), flyby of Uranus performed by the space probe ''Voyager 2'' in 1986, which managed to image around 35% of the moon's surface. There are no active plans at present to return to study the moon in more detail, although various concepts such as a Uranus Orbiter and Probe have been proposed. After Miranda (moon), Miranda, Ariel is the second-closest of Uranus's five Major moon, major rounded satellites. Among the smallest of the Solar System's Major moon, 20 known spherical moons (it ranks 14th among them in diameter), it is believed to be composed of roughl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the " Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in Lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Struve Telescope
The Otto Struve Telescope was the first major telescope to be built at McDonald Observatory. Located in the Davis Mountains in West Texas, the Otto Struve Telescope was designed by Warner & Swasey Company and constructed between 1933 and 1939 by the Paterson-Leitch Company. Its mirror was the second largest in the world at the time. It was named after the Ukrainian-American astronomer of Baltic German origin Otto Struve in 1966, three years after his death; Struve had been the director of McDonald Observatory from 1932–1950. The Davis Mountains is an excellent location for astronomical research because of the clear dry air and moderately high elevation. The remote nature of the facility proved to be a significant challenge in transporting such a large mirror. It was a very precarious journey for the Otto Struve Telescope's mirror to this remote part of Texas and up to the top of Mount Locke. The mirror was transported from the local town of Fort Davis up the mountain by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuiper Colored
Kuiper is a Dutch occupational surname meaning cooper. Common spelling variants include Kuyper, Kuipers, Kuijper, Kuijpers, Kuypers, and De Kuyper. Notable people with the name include: Kuiper * Adrian Kuiper (born 1959), South African cricketer *Barend Klaas Kuiper (1877–1961), Dutch-American historian * David Kuiper (born 1980), Dutch rower *Duane Kuiper (born 1950), American baseball player *Edith Kuiper (born 1960), Dutch economist *F. B. J. Kuiper (1907–2003), Dutch Indologist *Gerard Kuiper (1905–1973), Dutch-American astronomer after whom the Kuiper belt was named * Glen Kuiper (born 1963) American broadcaster *Hennie Kuiper (born 1949), Dutch cyclist * J. P. Kuiper (1922–1985), Dutch professor of social medicine * Michael Kuiper (born 1989), Dutch martial artist * Nick Kuiper (born 1982), Canadian ice hockey player * Nicky Kuiper (born 1989), Dutch footballer *Nicolaas Kuiper (1920–1994), Dutch mathematician, known for Kuiper's test, Kuiper's theorem, and the E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corona (planetary Geology)
In planetary geology, a corona (plural: coronae ) is an oval-shaped feature. Coronae appear on both the planet Venus and Uranus's moon Miranda and may be formed by upwellings of warm material below the surface. Coronae on Venus The geodynamic surface of Venus is dominated by patterns of basaltic volcanism, and by compressional and extensional tectonic deformation, such as the highly deformed tesserae terrain and the concentrically-fractured coronae. On Venus, coronae are large (typically several hundred kilometres across), crown-like, volcanic features. Coronae were first identified in 1983, when the radar imaging equipment aboard the Venera 15 and Venera 16 spacecraft produced higher-resolution images of some features previously thought to be impact craters. It is believed that coronae are formed when plumes of rising hot material in the mantle push the crust upwards into a dome shape, which then collapses in the centre as the molten magma cools and leaks out at the sid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tectonic
Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes include those of mountain-building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents known as cratons, and the ways in which the relatively rigid plates that constitute the Earth's outer shell interact with each other. Principles of tectonics also provide a framework for understanding the earthquake and volcanic belts that directly affect much of the global population. Tectonic studies are important as guides for economic geologists searching for fossil fuels and ore deposits of metallic and nonmetallic resources. An understanding of tectonic principles can help geomorphologists to explain erosion patterns and other Earth-surface features. Main types of tectonic regime Extensional tectonics Extensional tectonic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually composed of rock that is resistant to weathering and erosion. The sedimentary rocks that are most likely to form cliffs include sandstone, limestone, chalk, and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. Igneous rocks such as granite and basalt also often form cliffs. An escarpment (or scarp) is a type of cliff formed by the movement of a geologic fault, a landslide, or sometimes by rock slides or falling rocks which change the differential erosion of the rock layers. Most cliffs have some form of scree slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, they are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock. In areas of higher moisture, a soil slope may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verona Rupes
Verona Rupes is the tallest known cliff on Miranda, a moon of Uranus, and plausibly holds the record for the highest cliff in the Solar System. It was discovered by the ''Voyager 2'' space probe in January 1986. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1988, named after the city of Verona, which is the setting for ''Romeo and Juliet,'' written by William Shakespeare. It may have been created by a major impact that caused the moon to disrupt and reassemble, or by the crust rifting. Given Miranda's low gravity, it would take about 12 minutes to fall from the top, reaching the bottom at a speed of about 200 km/h. There are many estimates about the cliff's height. It was thought its height was between high, while another places it at a higher altitude of , potentially making it the tallest known cliff in the Solar System. One study estimated that the "true" height of Verona Rupes is around when not accounting for oblique viewing caused by parallax, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
