199 Special Session: Planetary Geology Division 30th Anniversary—Then And Now: The Past 30 Years Of Solar System Exploration
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Room L100H-J
THE MAJOR MOONS OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE
Paper number: 199-4
Program: Special Sessions
Time: 2:05 PM – 2:20 PM
Authors
-
William B. McKinnonDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Saint Louis, MO
-
Robert T. PappalardoJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
-
Paul M. SchenkLunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX
Abstract
In this talk we will review what is known of the geology of the 5 largest Uranian satellites (Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Ariel, and Miranda) and Neptune’s large satellite Triton. Virtually everything we know of these worlds comes from the 1986 and 1989 encounters of Voyager 2. These 5 Uranian satellites fall within the same size and density range as the middle sized icy satellites of Saturn. Cassini observations of these Saturnain satellites inform our evolving understanding of the major Uranian satellites. Some, such as Miranda and Ariel, show extensive modification of their surfaces by endogenic processes, which may be analogous to processes operating on Saturn’s moons such as Enceladus and Dione. Triton, Neptune’s only large satellite, is a captured KBO, whose post-capture orbital evolution has powered, and may still be driving, massive resurfacing. Triton has the best-known examples of cryo-volcanism in the Solar System. Triton also sports nitrogen geysers, which may be energized by solar heating. Triton is approximately the same size and density as Pluto, and may be our best preview of Pluto prior to the arrival of New Horizons in 2015.