PIA00037: Ariel at Voyager Closest Approach
Target Name: Ariel
Is a satellite of: Uranus
Mission: Voyager
Spacecraft: Voyager 2
Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Product Size: 800 samples x 800 lines
Produced By: JPL
Producer ID: P29511
Addition Date: 2000-06-02
Primary Data Set: Voyager EDRs
Full-Res TIFF: PIA00037.tif (301.1 kB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA00037.jpg (46.74 kB)

Click on the image to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly cropped or reduced in size from original).

Original Caption Released with Image:

This picture is part of the highest-resolution Voyager 2 imaging sequence of Ariel, a moon of Uranus about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) in diameter. The clear-filter, narrow-angle image was taken Jan. 24, 1986, from a distance of 130,000 km (80,000 mi). The complexity of Ariel's surface indicates that a variety of geologic processes have occurred. The numerous craters, for example, are indications of an old surface bombarded by meteoroids over a long period. Also conspicuous at this resolution, about 2.4 km (1.5 mi), are linear grooves (evidence of tectonic activity that has broken up the surface) and smooth patches (indicative of deposition of material). The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
2000-06-02