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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology pp 1Cite as

Miranda

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Definition

Miranda, discovered by Gerard Kuiper in 1948, is the innermost of Uranus’ five major satellites; it is also the smallest one, with a diameter of 470 km. Its surface mainly consists of water ice. Miranda was explored in 1986 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft whose images revealed a great variety of structures, with heavily cratered terrains but also rift-like canyons, faults, and valleys, showing evidence for an intense tectonic activity in the past history of the satellite. Some features could also result from cryovolcanism driven by tidal heating. In the 1980s it was proposed that these structures could have formed due to an early disruption of the object by a collision, followed by an accretion of the fragments in Uranus’ orbit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LESIA - Bâtiment ISO (n°17), Observatoire de Paris – Section de Meudon, 5, Place Jules Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France

    Therese Encrenaz

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  1. Therese Encrenaz
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Correspondence to Therese Encrenaz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Encrenaz, T. (2014). Miranda. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1003-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1003-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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