Verona Rupes facts for kids
Verona Rupes is a giant cliff found on Miranda. Miranda is one of the moons that orbits the planet Uranus. This amazing cliff is thought to be between 5 kilometers (3 miles) and 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) high. This makes Verona Rupes the tallest known cliff in our entire solar system!
Contents
What is Verona Rupes?
Verona Rupes is a huge, steep rock face on Miranda, a moon of Uranus. Imagine a cliff that is many times taller than Mount Everest! Scientists believe it is the highest cliff discovered anywhere in our solar system so far.
Miranda itself is a very interesting moon. It is quite small, but it has a very jumbled and unique surface. This makes scientists wonder how it was formed and what happened to it over billions of years.
How Verona Rupes May Have Formed
Scientists have a few ideas about how such a massive cliff like Verona Rupes could have been created.
Giant Impact Theory
One idea is that Miranda was hit by something very big a long, long time ago. This impact might have been so powerful that it broke the moon apart! After breaking up, the pieces of Miranda could have slowly come back together due to gravity. When the pieces reassembled, they might not have fit perfectly, creating huge cracks and cliffs like Verona Rupes.
Crust Rifting Theory
Another idea is that Verona Rupes formed because of something called "crust rifting." This means that the outer layer, or crust, of Miranda might have stretched and pulled apart. As the crust pulled apart, it could have created deep cracks and faults, leading to the formation of this enormous cliff. This process is similar to how some valleys and cliffs form on Earth, but on a much larger scale for Verona Rupes.
Scientists continue to study images and data from space missions, like the Voyager 2 probe, to learn more about Verona Rupes and the mysterious moon Miranda.
Images for kids
-
Verona Rupes, right of center, photographed by the unmanned Voyager 2 spaceprobe in January 1986.
See also
In Spanish: Verona Rupes para niños
