X of data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope has give an international team of astronomer sweet perceptivity into what ’s work on with Uranus . A young analysis , publishedin Nature Astronomy , reckon the twist of one of our solar system ’s most understudied planets with unprecedented precision .
A human - made aim has visited the seventh planet from the Sun just once . On January 24 , 1986 , NASA ’s Voyager 2 spacecraft conducted a flyby , pucker some of the most comprehensive information scientists have had access to when it comes to Earth ’s distant neighbor . That include some oddity , such as the fact that Uranus ’ magnetic field was both highly tilted and offset . By comparing mensuration of that field , astronomers were able to estimate the satellite ’s rotation at 17 time of day , 14 proceedings , and 24 seconds .
Something Strange Happened During Voyager 2 ’s Flyby of Uranus in 1986
This image of Uranus’ aurorae was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on 9 February 2025.Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Lamy, L. Sromovsky
However , there was a margin of mistake of 36 irregular built into that figuring . That may seem small , but as the stargazer observe in their newfangled paper , it was enough that commentator were no longer able to find the charismatic bloc of the planet less than two year after Voyager 2 ’s visit .
That doubt was because elephantine planets such as Uranus pose alone problem for scientific observers . While Uranus is not technically a gas giant , as it has a solid core group , it ’s hard to see what ’s actually going on through all that flatulence , as powerful winds rend through the deep atmosphere .
An attempt to re - analyze ultraviolet data collected by Voyager 2 in 2009 was n’t able to improve the reason of how tight Uranus was circumvolve . To work out the riddle , astronomers turned to the Hubble Space Telescope , which start capturing images of the satellite ’s ultraviolet dayspring in 2011 . Like the dawning that can be found here on Earth , such as the Northern Lights , Uranus ’ are get by particles striking the atmosphere and interact with the magnetic field . More range were involve in the subsequent years , allowing for the observation of the striking luminousness shows under different solar wind and magnetospheric condition .
psychoanalysis of the Hubble imagination , combined with the data collected by Voyager 2 , allowed for a more accurate calculation of Uranus ’ revolution speed . What they establish did indeed fall within the original margin of error : according to their calculations , Uranus is spin out at precisely 17 hr , 14 moment , and 52 seconds . There ’s still a margin of error , but it ’s down to 0.036 seconds .
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“ Our measurement not only provides an essential reference for the planetary science residential area but also resolve a long - digest issue : old coordinate systems based on outdated rotation periods quickly became inaccurate , wee-wee it impossible to track Uranus ’ charismatic poles over time , ” said Laurent Lamy , an uranologist at France ’s Observatoire de Paris - PSL who led the research squad , in astatement . “ With this young longitude system , we can now equate aurorean observations spanning closely 40 years and even be after for the upcoming Uranus missionary work . ”
The mission he ’s referring to is an as - yet - unscheduled probe that waslisted as a major priorityfor NASA in 2022 by the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering , and Medicine . That craft will be tax with single-valued function Uranus ’ gravitational and charismatic fields , a mission that will be well-situated thanks to this raw discovery .
But ( and with Uranus , there ’s always a but ) , that deputation be purely on theme properly now . NASA along with much of the federal government activity front an uncertain futurity , so it ’s uncertain when , or if , humans will once again stab around in that distant colicky wonderment .
Astronomyhubble telescopeUranus
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