For almost 40 years, our understanding of Uranus has been wrong!

JAKARTA – A new study suggests that scientists’ understanding of Uranus could be wrong for almost four decades or 40 years.

Data from the Voyager 2 probe that flew by Uranus in 1986, which is the main source of our knowledge about this icy planet, appears to have been affected by strange plasma bursts from the Sun.

Uranus’ Weird Magnetic Field

Voyager 2 observations show that Uranus has a magnetic field that is highly asymmetric and does not match the rotation of the planet. In addition, Uranus’ magnetic field is filled with highly energetic electrons.

The reason: A solar wind explosion

A new analysis of Voyager 2 data suggests that the strange readings may have been caused by a burst of solar wind that hit Uranus’ magnetic field just before the probe passed. In other words, our understanding of Uranus may have been based on arbitrary pictures, not the planet’s natural features.

“If Voyager 2 had arrived a few days earlier, it would have seen a completely different magnetosphere on Uranus,” said Jamie Jasinski, lead author of the study and a space plasma physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Uranus spacecraft in a state that occurs only about 4% of the time.”

Magnetic fields and radiation belts

Magnetic fields form around planets as a result of the movement of material within their molten cores, and act as shields from jets of plasma called solar winds that are launched from the sun. When solar radiation hits a planet’s magnetosphere, it is captured by magnetic field lines and converted into pockets called radiation belts.

Uranus’ radiation belts, along with its asymmetric magnetic field, puzzled scientists when the first readings from Voyager 2 appeared. The planet’s magnetosphere is filled with electron radiation belts whose intensity is only lower than Jupiter phase. However, other parts of the field are free of plasma, indicating that there are no obvious sources providing the radiation belts.

Wrong conclusions about the Moons of Uranus

The lack of plasma elsewhere has led scientists to conclude that water ions are not produced by Uranus’ five main moons, four of which are covered in ice.

A Review and New Findings

By reanalyzing Voyager 2 data taking into account recorded solar wind bursts, the researchers found that just before Voyager 2 passed by, the solar wind pushed plasma out of Uranus’ magnetosphere, causing it to change it temporarily forms and injects electrons into its radiation belts.

This is similar to how the Earth’s magnetic field is cut and bent when it is hit by a large solar storm.

“The flight was full of surprises, and we are looking for an explanation for this unusual behavior,” said Linda Spilker, a senior research scientist at JPL who was involved in the Voyager 2 mission. time.

Read also: These are the conditions for people to live on the planet Mars

Important Outcomes

This study has important implications for our understanding of Uranus and its icy moons. The possibility of oceans hidden beneath the surface of these dunes opens up the possibility of life beyond Earth. More research is needed to confirm these findings and learn more about this mysterious icy planet.

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