The decades of data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope provide new insights into what is happening in Uranus. A new analysis published in natural astronomy calculates the rotation of one of the most studied planets in our solar system with unprecedented accuracy.
An artificial object visited the seventh planet from the sun only once. On January 24, 1986, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft conducted Flyby, collecting some of the most comprehensive data scientists already available when it comes to Earth’s distant neighbors. This includes some strange facts such as the height tilt and offset of Uranus’ magnetic field. By comparing measurements in this field, astronomers were able to estimate the rotation of a planet at 17 hours and 14 minutes and 24 seconds at 17 hours and 24 seconds.
However, an error margin of 36 seconds is built into this calculation. This may seem small, but as the astronomers point out in their new paper, observers are no longer able to find the Earth’s magnetic axis less than two years after Voyager 2 access.
This uncertainty is because giant planets such as Uranus have brought unique problems to scientific observers. Although Uranus is not a gas giant technically, it is difficult to see what actually happens in all gases due to its solid core, as the strong wind tear apart in a thick atmosphere.
Attempting to reanalyze the UV data collected by Traveler 2 in 2009 did not improve understanding of Uranus’ rotation speed. To solve the riddle, astronomers turned to the Hubble Space Telescope, which began capturing ultraviolet images of Earth in 2011. Just like the aurora that can be found on Earth, such as the northern lights, Uranus is caused by ocean currents, and is caused by particles that touch the atmosphere and interact with magnetic fields. More images were taken in the following years, allowing the spectacular sights displayed under different solar wind and magnetosphere conditions to be observed.
The analysis of Hubble images, combined with data collected by Voyager 2, allows the rotation speed of Uranus to be more accurately calculated. What they found was indeed within the original error range: Uranus rotated exactly 17 hours, 14 minutes and 52 seconds according to their calculations. There is still a room for error, but it is reduced to 0.036 seconds.
“Our measurements not only provide important reference for the planetary science community, but also solve a long-standing problem: the outdated rotation period based on the outdated coordinate system is rapidly inaccurate, which makes it impossible to track Uranus’s magnetic poles over time,” said Laurent Lamy, an astronomer at Opterver observer de Paris-paris-psl in France, who leads the research team. “With this new longitude system, we can now compare aurora observations spanning 40 years and even plan the upcoming Uranus mission.”
The mission he is referring to is an unresolved investigation that was listed as a major priority for NASA in 2022 by the National College of Science, Engineering and Medicine. The task of the craft is to map the gravity and magnetic field of Uranus, which will be easier, so this new discovery will be easier.
But (with Uranus, there is always a But), the task exists purely on paper. NASA, as well as many in the federal government, face an uncertain future, and therefore uncertain when, or whether, will poke in that distant gassy wonder again.
