An object much larger than the Earth could have crushed on Uranus

Uranus remains an ongoing research topic for Scientists / ESA / Hubble

Perhaps you know one of the most peculiar features of Uranus: does the planet turn to the side and its moons orbit it in that same plan or meaning. New evidence gives more force to the theory that Uranus has suffered a gigantic collision, which has resulted in its inclined orientation and perhaps also explains some of the other mysteries of the planet.

Scientists have a lot of questions about Uranus. Why does it look like that? How …

A new study conducted a series of simulations on Uranus shortly after its formation, badyzing the consequences that a great impact could have had on its rotation, its atmosphere and its internal structure. The impact could have left clear traces still visible in the interior of the planet that we see today.

Uranus is really a very strange planet. Not only does it rotate on an axis inclined 98 degrees from its orbital plane, but, unlike other giant planets, it does not seem to emit more heat than it receives from it. Sun. Moreover, its magnetic field seems deformed in comparison with the Earth. An impact could help explain some of these strange traits.

Scientists have simulated giant impacts on Uranus since the early 1990s, according to the new study published in the Astrophysical Journal. This time, researchers constructed a simulation using the most recent and accurate data on the composition of the planet. This allowed them to model how the impact of a gigantic object, perhaps one to three times the mbad of the Earth, would have deposited "material and energy into Uranus," and the amount of leftovers that could remain. "This study provides new insights into what could have happened billions of years ago with the material left behind by the impact, which could even trap some of the planet's heat," he said. said Leigh Fletcher to Gizmodo, a member of the Royal Society Research Fellow of the University of Leicester, England

But this is only a simulation, and as a scientific saying goes: all the models are defective, but some are very interesting. Models can not tell us exactly what happened; Much more data will be needed to fully understand the story of Uranus. "What we need next, is a robotic mission to explore Uranus and its diverse satellite system," Fletcher said. "The mapping of gravitational, atmospheric and magnetic fields, similar to what we did in Jupiter with Juno and in Saturn with Cbadini, could provide new clues to better understand these models, unveiling for the first time the secrets of the future. 39, interior of the planet "

Uranus is a true mystery. Will humanity finally explore it?

When Uranus was discovered in the 18th century, it was thought that it was a comet or a star. It is the third largest planet in the solar system and the seventh planet closest to the Sun, with a distance of 2,870,872,200 kilometers or in practice, 2.9 billion kilometers.

This is a gaseous planet with a large amount of methane on its surface, which gives it a bluish tone. Its main feature is that its axis of rotation is almost parallel to its orbital plane (about 8 °), so that the line of the equator is almost perpendicular to its orbit. In addition, the Sun crosses the sky so that it almost pbades through the poles and so each hemisphere remains without light around half the year of this planet.