• bean@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    Poseidon’s Kis— ohhh.

    The Uranian moon Miranda may contain a liquid water ocean, according to a team of researchers that recently mapped the satellite’s surface and modeled tidal stress on it.

    Cool! The article was a fun read tbh.

  • FUsername@feddit.org
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    15 days ago

    I’m really sorry, but since this is the internet, I expected a “Yo mama” joke in the comments and am disappointed.

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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    15 days ago

    From the article and then reading the wiki on Miranda, it seems that the moon used to be in an irregular orbit which would magnify the tidal stresses, but is not anymore, so it was presumed there was refreezing as the heat reduced. But with this paper perhaps not yet enough freezing far enough down to make the ice break as expected for a solid layer. I would guess that from the point of reaching any water below, Miranda’s layer will be far more difficult than ones like Europa and Enceladus, or at least until we learn more.