Uncovering new secrets of 'tilted planets'

Uranus, the tilted planet of the solar system, has been found to be stranger than we thought, thanks to observations from the James Webb space telescope.

Astronomers discover Uranus emitting X-rays

Photo: NASA/CXO/University of London

Uranus has long attracted the attention of astronomers because of its impressive distance, about 2.6 billion km from Earth.

To observe this planet, researchers need the support of powerful astronomical tools such as the James Webb space telescope.

Three recent studies have shown that one of Uranus' moons, Miranda, is likely to have a subsurface ocean. This means that Miranda could potentially harbor extraterrestrial life.

In a report published in the journal The Planetary Science , astronomer Caleb Strong of the University of North Dakota (USA) explained that the possibility of the moon Miranda carrying an ocean is quite strange.

“The fact that Miranda could harbor an ocean beneath its surface is something that has never been considered before because of its size,” said Strong. Miranda is only about 500 kilometers in diameter, about one-seventh the size of Earth’s moon.

The Miranda report is based on images transmitted back to Earth by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft. Voyager 2 is the only human spacecraft to have passed by and photographed Uranus, in 1986.

Moon Miranda as seen by Voyager 2

Unusual discovery in Uranus' magnetic field

Also based on data from Voyager 2, researchers also discovered abnormalities in Uranus' internal movements, leading to the fact that the planet's magnetic field operates in a different mechanism than Earth's.

The magnetic field acts as a shield to protect a planet from harmful radiation from the sun. According to a report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led by the University of California at Berkeley (USA), the surface of Uranus has different layers. Like oil and water, these layers never mix.

Their findings show that Uranus' magnetic field is chaotic and does not have clear north-south magnetic poles like those on Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn.

That is why both Uranus and its neighbor Neptune have magnetic fields that are different from what we observe in the case of Earth.

Specifically, the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune originate from a thin layer wedged between the mantle layers, while Earth generates its magnetic field at its core.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/kham-pha-nhung-bi-mat-moi-cua-hanh-tinh-nghieng-185241202092448794.htm