A recent study suggests Miranda, one of Uranus’s moons, may harbor a hidden subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust. This could make it potentially hospitable to extraterrestrial life.
Voyager 2 images from 1986 first revealed Miranda’s varied landscape of grooves, cliffs and other geological features, but the cause was unknown.
New computer modeling by scientists suggests tidal forces generated enough heat to sustain a deep subsurface ocean under Miranda’s icy shell in the past.
The orbital resonance between Miranda and neighboring moons orbiting Uranus could have provided this tidal heating effect.
It’s possible Miranda still has a thinner subsurface ocean today, though more data is needed to confirm this.
The possibility of an ocean on such a small, distant moon like Miranda has major implications and surprises scientists. It shows more undiscovered possibilities in our solar system.
Finding potential habitats for life far from Earth on moons like Miranda expands our understanding of where life might exist elsewhere.
Source: Earth
