Moon of Uranus · Updated May 2026
Ariel.
Ariel is the brightest of Uranus's moons and one of the larger ones at 1,158 km diameter. Its surface shows fewer large craters than its siblings, suggesting active resurfacing in the past, possibly from cryovolcanism.
View Uranus system in 3D →Key facts
Ariel's deep canyons (chasmata) cut hundreds of kilometres across the surface and may once have channelled flows of liquid water or ammonia ice.
About Ariel
Ariel was named after the spirit in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Like all the Uranian major moons, our only close imagery comes from Voyager 2's 1986 flyby.
How to view Ariel in 3D
Ariel orbits Uranus in real time inside the interactive viewer. Open the parent body to see the orbital geometry, or use the object browser to fly directly to the moon and observe its rotation, surface, and orbit.
Open the Uranus system →Sources & methodology
Numbers cross-referenced with the sources below; updated May 2026.