Uranus Archives

Models for the interior structures of the ice-giant planets Uranus and Neptune have two distinct, intermediate layers: an upper, water-rich convecting layer where disorganized magnetic fields are generated, and a lower, non-convecting hydrocarbon-rich layer. New computer simulations show that icy materials naturally separate at high pressure and temperature into these two layers. Credit Burkhard Militzer, UC Berkeley

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Clue To What Lies Beneath The Bland Surfaces Of Uranus And Neptune

by Keith CowingNovember 26, 2024May 12, 2025

Diamond rain? Super-ionic water? These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our […]

Map of Miranda's southern hemisphere made using JMARS and a base map by P. M. Schenk (2013). The map is shown to give context to the regional maps of Arden Corona and Elsinore Corona in Figures 4 and 5. The map shows how Arden Corona and Elsinore Corona are on opposite hemispheres from each other and made up of concentric ridges. The upper mapped region represents Elsinore Corona. Elsinore Corona is divided between ropelike folded terrain in the south (ECFT), rugged ridged terrain in the northwest (ECRT) and a mixture of the two terrains to the northeast (ECMT). Ridges are positive relief grooves. Furrows are negative relief grooves. The lower region represents Arden Corona (AC). Arden Corona is made up of a series of furrows. Prominent impact basins are also mapped for geographic context. Elsinore Corona and Arden Corona are mapped in this figure because their analysis required higher-resolution imagery, but the cratered terrain and Inverness Corona are mapped only in Figure 3 because of lower-resolution requirements, since they were not the main focus of the study. Labels of each unit mapped are added to clarify colors because of transparency issues. -- The Planetary Science Journal

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Is An Ocean Lurking Beneath Miranda?

by Keith CowingNovember 25, 2024November 25, 2024

Uranus’s moon Miranda might have once harbored an ocean beneath its surface, according to research published in the Planetary Science Journal. The work was led by graduate student Caleb Strom […]

The first panel of this artist’s concept depicts how Uranus’s magnetosphere — its protective bubble — was behaving before the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2. The second panel shows an unusual kind of solar weather was happening during the 1986 flyby, giving scientists a skewed view of the magnetosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Uranus

Mining Old Data From NASA’s Voyager 2 Solves Several Uranus Mysteries

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2024May 12, 2025

NASA’s Voyager 2 flyby of Uranus decades ago shaped scientists’ understanding of the planet but also introduced unexplained oddities. A recent data dive has offered answers.

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Uranus’ Moon Miranda May Have An Ocean Beneath Its Surface

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2024

A new study suggests Uranus’ moon Miranda may harbor a water ocean beneath its surface, a finding that would challenge many assumptions about the moon’s history and composition and could […]

Reprocessed images show the true colors of Uranus (left) and Neptune. — University of Oxford

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

H2-H2O Demixing In Uranus And Neptune: Adiabatic Structure Models

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2024May 12, 2025

Demixing properties of planetary major constituents influence the interior structure and evolution of planets. Comparing experimental and computational data on the miscibility of hydrogen and water to adiabatic profiles suggests […]

A schematic diagram of the sulfur cycle on the icy Galilean moons. Not all processes operate on all moons and the circles with E, G, and C indicate which processes seem to be more restricted to Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, respectively. Ice radiolysis happens on all icy surfaces and reactions of radiolytically produced H2SO4 can transform brine salts to sulfates. Only for Europa and Callisto the subsurface ocean is likely to be in contact with the rocky ocean floor but not for Ganymede, where massive dense ice layers prevents ongoing exchange of the subsurface with the silicates. The ocean compositions seem to be all quite similar in the beginning, and Ganymede’s ocean might be the oldest ur-ocean remaining since isolation by dense ice. Subsurface oceans on Europa and Callisto can evolve depending on silicate mantle outgassing into the oceans which may increase salinity over time. On Europa acidification from radiolytically produced H2SO4 may happen, which could lead to an ocean with compositional gradients and pH and development of a halocline. This diagram does not claim completeness and is an attempt to summarize observations, ideas and interpretations. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Saturn, Status Report, Titan, Uranus

Sulfur in the Giant Planets, their Moons, and Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets

by Keith CowingOctober 18, 2024October 18, 2024

We review sulfur chemistry of the gas giant planets and their moons where sulfur compounds are observed. The major S-bearing gas in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets is […]

The left panel is Hubble's actual view of Uranus – the planet is a light blue sphere, with a white circle covering the right half of the planet (the southern pole). The right panel is the actual view of Uranus from New Horizons. The planet appears as a tiny whiteish dot. -- STSCI/NASA/SwRI (larger image)

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Stellar Cartography, Uranus

Exoplanet Analysis Practice Using Uranus, Hubble, And New Horizons

by Keith CowingOctober 10, 2024May 12, 2025

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and New Horizons spacecraft simultaneously set their sights on Uranus recently, allowing scientists to make a direct comparison of the planet from two very different viewpoints. […]

Artist’s rendition of variety of exoplanets featured in the new NASA TESS-Keck Survey Mass Catalog, the largest, single, homogenous analysis of TESS planets released by any survey thus far. Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

Alpha Centauri, Astrogeology, Beta Pictoris, Ceres, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, Proxima Centauri, Saturn, Status Report, tau Ceti, TRAPPIST-1, Uranus, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Classifications For Exoplanet and Exoplanetary Systems

by Keith CowingSeptember 17, 2024September 17, 2024

When a star is described as a spectral class G2V, we know its approximate mass, temperature, age, and size. At more than 5,700 exoplanets discovered, it is a natural developmental […]

Possible methane vapor profiles in ice giants. In red we plot several possible methane vapor profiles constrained by observations from Sromovsky et al. (2014) and Irwin et al. (2021) (we plot the range of the latitudinal variations) and by saturation curves corresponding to Voyager 2 temperature profiles. Criterion curves in black indicate when moist convection is inhibited: when the specific concentration is higher than the critical specific concentration and the level is saturated, then the criterion applies. These possible methane vapor profiles are inspired by the tested profiles in Sromovsky et al. (2019) who talk about "descended profiles". -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus

Storms and Convection on Uranus and Neptune: Impact of Methane Abundance Revealed by a 3D Cloud-resolving Model

by Keith CowingSeptember 16, 2024May 12, 2025

Uranus and Neptune have atmospheres dominated by molecular hydrogen and helium. In the upper troposphere, methane is the third main molecule and condenses, yielding a vertical gradient in CH4. This […]

Ariel, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Miranda, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice Giant Systems Seminar Series: Are Uranus’ Large Moons Ocean Worlds? The Developing Spectroscopic Picture

by Keith CowingSeptember 9, 2024May 12, 2025

Date/Time: September 10, 11am ETSpeaker: Dr. Richard Cartwright (JHU/APL)Topic: Are Uranus’ Large Moons Ocean Worlds? The Developing Spectroscopic Picture

Uranus

A Clue To What Lies Beneath The Bland Surfaces Of Uranus And Neptune

Is An Ocean Lurking Beneath Miranda?

Mining Old Data From NASA’s Voyager 2 Solves Several Uranus Mysteries

Uranus’ Moon Miranda May Have An Ocean Beneath Its Surface

H2-H2O Demixing In Uranus And Neptune: Adiabatic Structure Models

Sulfur in the Giant Planets, their Moons, and Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets

Exoplanet Analysis Practice Using Uranus, Hubble, And New Horizons

Classifications For Exoplanet and Exoplanetary Systems

Storms and Convection on Uranus and Neptune: Impact of Methane Abundance Revealed by a 3D Cloud-resolving Model

Ice Giant Systems Seminar Series: Are Uranus’ Large Moons Ocean Worlds? The Developing Spectroscopic Picture

PJ Harvey Announces New Song “Voyager”

Fifty Years after Viking: The Promise of Solar System Microbiology and Microbial Ecology

Characterising Transiting Exoplanets At Long Orbital Period: Lessons Learned For PLATO From 10 Years Of Monitoring The HIP41378 System

Implications Of Self-consistent H2O Ice Optical Constants On Radiative Transfer Models Of Disks

The GAPS Programme at TNG LXXIV. A Reanalysis Of The Planetary Systems TOI-1272 And TOI-1694 With HARPS-N And Retraction Of The Planetary Interpretation Of TOI-1272 c