Verona Rupes

Coordinates: 18°18′S 347°48′E / 18.3°S 347.8°E / -18.3; 347.8[1]

Verona Rupes, right of center.[2], photographed by the unmanned Voyager 2 spaceprobe in January 1986.

Verona Rupes is a cliff on Miranda, a moon of Uranus.[3] The cliff face has been estimated to be from 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 mi)[4] high, which makes it one of the tallest known cliffs in the Solar System.[5]

It may have been created by a major impact, which caused the moon to disrupt and reassemble,[3][5] or by the crust rifting.[6]

Given Miranda's low gravity, it would take about 12 minutes to fall from the top, reaching the bottom at the speed of about 200 km/h. Even so, the fall might be survivable given proper airbag protection.[7]

References

  1. "Verona Rupes". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. "PIA00044: Miranda high resolution of large fault". JPL, NASA. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  3. 1 2 "Miranda". USGS. 2003-05-08. Retrieved 2006-11-28.
  4. "Radii, shapes, and topography of the satellites of Uranus from limb coordinates". Icarus. 73: 427–441. Bibcode:1988Icar...73..427T. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(88)90054-1.
  5. 1 2 Chaikin, Andrew (2001-10-16). "Birth of Uranus' provocative moon still puzzles scientists". space.com. Imaginova Corp. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  6. Chaikin, Andrew (2001-10-16). "Birth of Uranus' provocative moon still puzzles scientists". space.com. Imaginova Corp. p. 2. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  7. "APOD: 2016 November 27 - Verona Rupes: Tallest Known Cliff in the Solar System". apod.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-27.


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