Ariel Archives

Major icy bodies in the Solar System, with the Earth’s moon to scale. The images are shown at the proper relative size. From NASA’s Planetary Photojournal (https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/), Earth’s Moon (PIA00302), Europa (PIA00502), Ganymede (PIA00716), Callisto (PIA03456), Mimas (PIA06258), Enceladus (PIA06254), Tethys (PIA07738), Dione (PIA08256), Rhea (PIA08256), Titan (PIA08256), Hyperion (PIA07740), Iapetus (PIA08384), Phoebe (PIA06064), Miranda (PIA18185), Ariel (PIA01534), Umbriel (PIA00040), Titania (PIA01979), Oberon (PIA00034), Triton (PIA00317), Pluto (PIA19952). -- astro-ph.EP

Ariel, Astrogeology, Callisto, Ceres, Charon, Dione, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Iapetus, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Mimas, Miranda, Missions & Hardware, Moon, Oberon, Phoebe, Pluto, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Rhea, Status Report, Tethys, Titan, Titania, Triton, Umbriel, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Icy Worlds: Moons And Dwarf Planets

by Keith CowingDecember 1, 2025December 1, 2025

In the outer solar system beyond Jupiter, water ice is a dominant component of planetary bodies, and most solid objects in this region are classified as icy bodies.

New research suggests that Ariel, a moon of Uranus, might have once harbored an ocean over 100 miles (about 170 kilometers) deep. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/PSI/Mikayla Kelley/Peter Buhler

Ariel, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Evidence Of A Past, Deep Ocean On Ariel, A Uranian Moon

by Keith CowingSeptember 30, 2025September 30, 2025

Growing evidence suggests that a subsurface ocean lurks beneath the icy surface of Uranus’ moon Ariel, but new research, published in Icarus, characterizes the possible evolution of this ocean, and […]

Ariel, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Miranda, Missions & Hardware, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus

The Uranus Flagship: Investigating New Paradigms for Outer Solar System Exploration Workshop Summary Report

by Keith CowingSeptember 2, 2025September 2, 2025

This white paper is a summary of the Uranus Flagship Workshop that took place 21 to 23 May 2024 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Co-led by Goddard and Johns […]

(a) Galileo Solid State Imaging (SSI) false color data of Europa’s leading hemisphere and Tara Regio (credit: NASA, JPL/Caltech, PIA01295). (b) Illustration of chaos on Europa (credit: NASA, GSFC, PIA00840), showing hypothesized geologic communication between its subsurface ocean and surface (chaos formation mechanisms summarized in e.g., Daubar et al. 2024). (c) Spectral map showing the distribution of irradiated NaCl on Europa, highlighting its concentration in and around Tara Regio (modified from Trumbo et al. 2019). -- astro-ph.IM

Ariel, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Assessing Ocean World Habitability With HWO

by Keith CowingJuly 11, 2025July 11, 2025

The instrument payload of the future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will span a wide range of wavelengths, including the ultraviolet (UV) region that cannot be easily accessed from the ground […]

Uranus and its four largest moons -- NASA

Ariel, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus

The Moons of Uranus Surprise Scientists

by Keith CowingJune 12, 2025

Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope went looking for evidence of one phenomenon and found quite another. The research team studied the four largest moons of the ice giant Uranus, […]

Ariel, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Miranda, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ocean Worlds: New Study Suggests Trench-Like Features on Uranus’ Moon Ariel May Be Windows to Its Interior

by Keith CowingFebruary 4, 2025February 4, 2025

Last year, a study led by planetary scientist Richard Cartwright at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, proposed that deposits of carbon dioxide ice and other […]

Magnetic field of Uranus. (left) Magnetic field line geometry of Uranus for Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox in the Uranus–Sun–Orbit frame. The orbits of Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon are shown. Independent of season, the magnetic field of Umbriel (as well as Miranda and Ariel) is well shielded from external effects of the magnetosphere, making it a robust target for magnetic induction investigation of its interior (right) Fourier transform of the magnetic field of Uranus evaluated at the position of Umbriel. Note that although there are many beats and harmonics of the two fundamental frequencies, only the synodic is used here for characterization owing to its dominance over the other frequencies. -- Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci via PubMed

Ariel, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Miranda, Oberon, Status Report, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Detecting Planetary Oceans: Application To The Uranus System

by Keith CowingDecember 8, 2024May 12, 2025

The discovery of Europa’s subsurface ocean has spawned a strong desire by the planetary community to return and assess the ocean’s habitability using the magnetic induction signal that Europa generates.

Ariel, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Uranus’ Swaying Moons Will Help Spacecraft Seek Out Hidden Oceans

by Keith CowingNovember 29, 2024May 12, 2025

When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, […]

Ariel, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Miranda, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice Giant Systems Seminar Series: Are Uranus’ Large Moons Ocean Worlds? The Developing Spectroscopic Picture

by Keith CowingSeptember 9, 2024May 12, 2025

Date/Time: September 10, 11am ETSpeaker: Dr. Richard Cartwright (JHU/APL)Topic: Are Uranus’ Large Moons Ocean Worlds? The Developing Spectroscopic Picture

An artist’s impression of Uranus and its five largest moons (innermost to outermost) Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Mike Yakovlev

Ariel, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Miranda, Oberon, Status Report, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus

The Astrobiological Potential of the Uranian Moon System

by Keith CowingAugust 27, 2024August 27, 2024

The 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey prioritized the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) mission concept as the next priority flagship mission. The UOP concept includes scientific studies of […]