Ariel: Highest Resolution Colour Picture PIA00041
The complex terrain of Ariel is viewed in this image, the best Voyager 2 colour picture of the Uranian moon. The individual photos used to construct this composite were taken 24 January 1986, from a distance of 170,000 km
Go to Full Text
Return to Planets Menu
Image Credit: NASA  

Voyager captured this view of Ariel's southern hemisphere through the green, blue and violet filters of the narrow-angle camera; the resolution is about 3 km. Most of the visible surface consists of relatively intensely cratered terrain transected by fault scarps and fault-bounded valleys (graben). Some of the largest valleys, which can be seen near the terminator (at right), are partly filled with younger deposits that are less heavily cratered. Bright spots near the limb and toward the left are chiefly the rims of small craters. Most of the brightly rimmed craters are too small to be resolved here, although one about 30 km in diameter can be easily distinguished near the center. These bright-rim craters, though the youngest features on Ariel, probably have formed over a long span of geological time. Although Ariel has a diameter of only about 1,200 km, it has clearly experienced a great deal of geological activity in the past.  
Return to top of page