APOD: December 24, 1995 - Uranus' Moon Miranda <link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="./favicon.ico"> </head> <body BGCOLOR="#F4F4FF"> <CENTER> <text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#7F0F9F" alink="#FF0000"> <h1> Astronomy Picture of the Day </h1> <p> <a href="archivepix.html">Discover the cosmos!</a> Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. <p> December 24, 1995 <br> <a href="image/miranda_vg2_big.gif"> <IMG SRC="image/miranda_vg2.gif"> </a> <br> <b> Uranus' Moon Miranda </b><br> <b> Credit: </b> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>, <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">JPL</a>, <a href="http://vraptor.jpl.nasa.gov/voyager/voyager.html">Voyager</a> 2 <p> </CENTER> <b> Explanation: </b> NASA's robot spacecraft Voyager 2 passed the planet <a href="ap950816.html">Uranus</a> and its moons in 1986. While the cloud tops of <a href="http://www.nineplanets.org/uranus.html" >Uranus</a> proved to be rather featureless, the surface of <a href="http://www.nineplanets.org/miranda.html" >Miranda</a>, the innermost of <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm" >Uranus</a>' large moons, showed several interesting features. Voyager 2 passed closer to <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/miranda.htm" >Miranda</a> than to any <a href="ap950819.html">Solar System</a> body and hence photographed it with the clearest resolution. Miranda's heavily cratered terrain shows grooves like <a href="ap951208.html">Jupiter</a>'s moon <a href="ap950904.html">Ganymede</a> and several valleys and cliffs. Miranda is made of a roughly equal mix of ice and rock. Miranda was discovered by Gerard Kuiper in 1948. <p> <CENTER> <b> Tomorrow's picture: </b><a href="ap951225.html"> Earth Rise </a> <p> <hr> <a href="ap951223.html"><</a> <a href="archivepix.html">Archive</a> | <a href="lib/aptree.html">Index</a> | <a href="http://apod.it/uk/">Search</a> | <a href="calendar/allyears.html">Calendar</a> | <a href="lib/glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="lib/edlinks.html">Education</a> | <a href="lib/about_apod.html">About APOD</a> <a href="ap951225.html">></a> <hr> <p> <b> Authors & editors: </b> <a href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn.html">Robert Nemiroff</a> (<a href="http://www.phy.mtu.edu/">MTU</a>) & <a href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html">Jerry Bonnell</a> (<a href="http://www.usra.edu/">USRA</a>)<br> <b>NASA Technical Rep.: </b> <a href="mailto:jpn@grossc.gsfc.nasa.gov">Jay Norris</a>. <a href="lib/about_apod.html#srapply" >Specific rights apply</a>.<br> <b>A service of:</b> <a href="http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/lhea/homepg_lhea.html">LHEA</a> at <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>/ <a href="http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC_homepage.html">GSFC</a><br> <b>&:</b> <a href="http://www.mtu.edu/">Michigan Tech. U.</a><br> </CENTER> </body>