Feature type | Chasm system |
---|---|
Location | Titania |
Coordinates | 33°18′S 25°00′W / 33.30°S 25.00°W [1] |
Length | ~1,492 km (927 mi) [1] [a] |
Discoverer | Voyager 2 |
Naming | Official |
The Messina Chasmata /mɛˈsiːnə ˈkæzmətə/ are the largest canyon or system of canyons on the surface of the Uranian moon Titania, named after a location in William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing. [1] The 1,492 km (927 mi)- long feature includes two normal faults running NW–SE, which bound a down-dropped crustal block forming a structure called a graben. [2] The graben cuts impact craters, which probably means that it was formed at a relatively late stage of the moon's evolution, [3] when the interior of Titania expanded and its ice crust cracked as a result. [4] The Messina Chasmata have only a few superimposed craters, which also implies being relatively young. The feature was first imaged by Voyager 2 in January 1986. [2]
Feature type | Chasm system |
---|---|
Location | Titania |
Coordinates | 33°18′S 25°00′W / 33.30°S 25.00°W [1] |
Length | ~1,492 km (927 mi) [1] [a] |
Discoverer | Voyager 2 |
Naming | Official |
The Messina Chasmata /mɛˈsiːnə ˈkæzmətə/ are the largest canyon or system of canyons on the surface of the Uranian moon Titania, named after a location in William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing. [1] The 1,492 km (927 mi)- long feature includes two normal faults running NW–SE, which bound a down-dropped crustal block forming a structure called a graben. [2] The graben cuts impact craters, which probably means that it was formed at a relatively late stage of the moon's evolution, [3] when the interior of Titania expanded and its ice crust cracked as a result. [4] The Messina Chasmata have only a few superimposed craters, which also implies being relatively young. The feature was first imaged by Voyager 2 in January 1986. [2]