Space weather creates the Northern Lights on Earth , and more recently, Northern Lights observations have been made Uranus helped NASA The Hubble Space Telescope measures the planet’s internal rotational speed, altering our understanding of how we define a day on this chilly and blustery world. world .
Former estimations of Uranus' rotational speed were derived from data provided by NASA’s Voyager 2 Spacecraft flybys in 1986 initially suggested certain timings. Nonetheless, newer observations utilizing the powerful Hubble Space Telescope along with an advanced method revealed that these estimates were slightly inaccurate, deviating by approximately half a minute.
Uranus Isn’t As Strange As Scientists Believed; It Took Almost Four Decades To Unravel The Mystery
Astronomer Laurent Lamy from the Laboratory for Instrumentation and Research in Astrophysics (LIRA) stated Paris They devised a novel method for monitoring the spinning movement of Uranus' auroras utilizing the Hubble telescope. These luminous shows occur in the higher atmospheric regions. atmosphere From energetic particles around the planet's magnetic poles. Based on these findings, one complete rotation or “day” on Uranus lasts for 17 hours, 14 minutes, and 52 seconds, which is 28 seconds more than what was estimated using Voyager 2 data back in 1986.
Northern lights are an observed occurrence on our planet. Jupiter and Saturn However, similar to none of the other planets, the luminescent displays on Uranus stand out because of their erratic nature, attributed to the planet’s skewed magnetic field.
Fortunately, Hubble has monitored these auroral emissions on the tilted planet for over ten years, enabling scientists to monitor the movement of the magnetic poles.
SCIENTISTS UNVEIL THE TRUE APPEARANCE OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE
Our measurements serve as a crucial benchmark for the planetary science community and address a longstanding problem: earlier coordinate systems, which relied on obsolete rotation rates, rapidly lost accuracy, hindering our ability to monitor Uranus’s magnetic poles over extended durations," Lamy explained. "This novel longitudinal framework allows us to contrast aurora observations covering almost four decades and even aids in preparations for the forthcoming Uranus mission.
Robotic expeditions might uncover additional mysteries about Uranus within the coming ten years. This celestial body holds top importance for both NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA intends to investigate a potential flagship mission, which would encompass an orbiter heading towards Uranus along with a probe designed to descend into its atmosphere.
Original article source: Glowing aurora lights on Uranus help scientists determine a day is 28 seconds longer on sideways planet