Wunda (crater) explained

Wunda is a large crater on the surface of Uranus' moon Umbriel. It is 131 km in diameter and is located near the equator of Umbriel. The crater is named after Wunda, a dark spirit of Australian aboriginal mythology.

Wunda has a prominent albedo feature on its floor, which takes the shape of a ring of bright material at least 10 km in radial width. The reason for its brightness, which stands out from the very dark composition of the moon as a whole, is unknown. It may be either a fresh impact deposit or a deposit of carbon dioxide ice, which formed when the radiolytically formed carbon dioxide migrated from all over the surface of Umbriel and got trapped inside relatively cold Wunda.^[1]

References

Citations

Sources

• 10.1029/JA092iA13p14918. Plescia. J. B.. December 30, 1987. Cratering history of the Uranian satellites: Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. Journal of Geophysical Research. 0148-0227. 92. A13. 14,918–14,932. 1987JGR....9214918P.
• 10.1126/science.233.4759.43. Smith. B. A.. Soderblom. L. A.. Beebe. A.. Bliss. D.. Boyce. J. M.. Brahic. A.. Briggs. G. A.. Brown. R. H.. Collins. S. A.. 4 July 1986. Voyager 2 in the Uranian System: Imaging Science Results. Science. 233. 4759. 43–64. 17812889. 1986Sci...233...43S. 5895824. .
• Web site: . October 1, 2006 . Wunda on Umbriel . USGS Astrogeology . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature . 2012-02-22 . .

Notes and References

1. Sori. Michael M.. Bapst. Jonathan. Bramson. Ali M.. Byrne. Shane. Landis. Margaret E.. 2017-07-01. A Wunda-full world? Carbon dioxide ice deposits on Umbriel and other Uranian moons. Icarus. 290. 1–13. 10.1016/j.icarus.2017.02.029. 2017Icar..290....1S.