Uranus Archives

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 […]

An artist’s impression of Uranus and its five largest moons (innermost to outermost) Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Mike Yakovlev

Ariel, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Miranda, Oberon, Status Report, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus

The Astrobiological Potential of the Uranian Moon System

by Keith CowingAugust 27, 2024August 27, 2024

The 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey prioritized the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) mission concept as the next priority flagship mission. The UOP concept includes scientific studies of […]

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

Webb Observes Carbon Oxides On Uranus’ Moon Ariel That Hint At A Hidden Ocean

by Keith CowingJuly 26, 2024July 26, 2024

The surface of Uranus’ moon Ariel is coated with a significant amount of carbon dioxide ice, especially on its “trailing hemisphere” that always faces away from the moon’s direction of […]

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Status Report, Uranus

Atmospheric Science Questions for a Uranian Probe

by Keith CowingJuly 17, 2024July 7, 2024

The Ice Giants represent a unique and relatively poorly characterized class of planets that have been largely unexplored since the brief Voyager 2 flyby in the late 1980’s.

Reprocessed images of Uranus [L]] and Neptune [R] NASA/JPL-Caltech (Uranus and Neptune); “Modelling the Seasonal Cycle of Uranus’s Colour and Magnitude, and Comparison with Neptune,” by Patrick G. J. Irwin et al., in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 527, No. 4; February 2024 (reprocessed images)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus

Insights on the Formation Conditions of Uranus and Neptune from their Deep Elemental Compositions

by Keith CowingJune 20, 2024May 12, 2025

This study, placed in the context of the preparation for the Uranus Orbiter Probe mission, aims to predict the bulk volatile compositions of Uranus and Neptune. Using a protoplanetary disk […]