Gertrude (crater) facts for kids

Gertrude is the biggest crater we know about on Titania, which is one of the moons orbiting the planet Uranus. It's super big, nearly 326 kilometers wide! That's about one-fifth of Titania's entire diameter. Imagine a crater so huge it covers a big chunk of a moon!

What is a Crater?

A crater is like a big bowl-shaped hole on the surface of a planet or moon. These holes are usually made when a space rock, like an asteroid or a comet, crashes into the surface at a very high speed. The impact creates a giant dent, and sometimes even throws up material around the edges, forming a rim.

Titania: Uranus's Largest Moon

Titania is the largest of Uranus's 27 known moons. It's named after the Queen of the Fairies in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania is made of about half ice and half rock. Its surface is covered with many craters, just like Gertrude, and also has huge faults (cracks) that look like long valleys.

Discovering Titania

Titania was discovered on January 11, 1787, by a famous astronomer named William Herschel. He also discovered another of Uranus's large moons, Oberon, on the same day. For a long time, these were the only moons known to orbit Uranus.

How Gertrude Formed

Gertrude, like most craters, was formed by a powerful impact. Billions of years ago, a very large asteroid or comet likely slammed into Titania. The force of this collision was so immense that it dug out the enormous basin we now call Gertrude. Over time, other smaller impacts might have happened inside Gertrude, creating smaller craters within the big one.

Exploring Titania and Gertrude

So far, only one spacecraft has ever flown close enough to Titania to take detailed pictures. This was Voyager 2, a NASA probe launched in 1977. In January 1986, Voyager 2 made a close flyby of Uranus and its moons, including Titania. The images it sent back helped scientists map Titania's surface and discover features like Gertrude. Because of Voyager 2, we have a good idea of what this distant moon looks like.

Images for kids

• 

  Gertrude is the large crater near the top of this Voyager 2 image.

See also

In Spanish: Gertrude (cráter de Titania) para niños