The biggest moons of Uranus may have oceans beneath their icy shells

Uranus’s 2 biggest moons, Titania and Oberon, whitethorn person capable radioactive vigor to support heavy liquid oceans that could beryllium detected by aboriginal spacecraft

Space 16 November 2021

By Leah Crane

Oberon mightiness person a liquid water beneath its frozen surface

Shutterstock / AleksandrMorrisovich

Uranus’s largest moons, Titania and Oberon, whitethorn beryllium hiding buried oceans. Surface temperatures averaging astir -200°C mean the water-rich worlds are covered successful ice, but radioactive elements heavy wrong these moons whitethorn support immoderate of their interior h2o melted.

The smaller moons that orbit person to Uranus get astir of their interior warmth from tidal heating, successful which the gravity of the satellite stretches and flexes each moon’s core, creating friction and heat. Earlier probe has suggested that …