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The North Pole is "up", the South Pole "down" as it is on the Earth, the Sun and all the other planets in our solar system. With one exception: in Uranus, the axis of rotation around which it rotates is almost perpendicular to those of all its neighbors and neighbors. It orbits around our central star on one side. And this is not the only peculiarity of the gaseous blue-green planet: its surface temperature is actually too low for its orbit at minus 214 degrees Celsius and it has four magnetic poles. In contrast, the rings and inner moons revolve around Uranus almost exactly in the equatorial plane. In addition, he has already traded space with Neptune. Some of these special properties are likely to be due to a cosmic collision, perhaps even more mbadive than the astronomers previously thought. This is suggested by Jacob Kegerreis of Durham University and his team in the Astrophysical Journal.
Scientists simulated 50 different impact scenarios. In doing so, they wanted to recreate the conditions that could have shaped the particular planet. Already in the still young solar system four billion years ago, a protoplanet of twice the mbad of the earth collided with uranium, which tipped to the side. This ice and rock object did not collide with the gas planet, but laterally, which explains why part of the original atmosphere has been preserved. Part of the material of the protoplanet was thrown into space and formed the rings of Uranus. At the same time, some pieces have agglomerated farther away, from which the inner moons of the planet have developed. Already existing satellites collided again with these mbades of debris, which also threw them out of the way and sent them to other lanes.
Other remnants of the protoplanet, in turn, have penetrated deep into Uranus or got stuck in the ice of the planet on their way to the nucleus. Unevenly distributed mbades can therefore cause the unusual four-pole magnetic field of the celestial body. And the debris probably also contributes to Uranus being so extremely cold. According to the simulation, some of the ice would settle on the edge of the uranium mantle and isolate the planet to the interior: a heat flux from the nucleus to the outside would be prevented, according to scientists .
As many exoplanets look like Uranus, Kegerreis and Co, they can also draw new ideas from simulation for the study of such celestial bodies – all the more so as collisions like those These are more common than imagined. In addition to Uranus, the Earth has also been affected in our solar system. From their clash with a protoplanet, the moon of the earth emerged, which decisively influenced the evolution of the planet and its life.
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