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While NASA offers a mission to Neptune’s moon, Triton, which may have an ocean capable of supporting life, researchers believe Neptune and Uranus are “mostly” made up of a strange form of water.
Scientists have developed a computer model to examine “thermal and electrical processes occurring under physical conditions” on giant ice planets.
In the model, the researchers examined the conduction of electricity and heat from water “under conditions of extreme temperature and pressure,” with implications for both planets, as well as for other exoplanets in the process. outside the solar system.
“Hydrogen and oxygen are the most common elements in the Universe, along with helium. It is easy to deduce that water is one of the main constituents of many celestial bodies, “said Federico Grasselli and Stefano Baroni, two of the researchers, in a statement.” Ganymede and Europe, satellites of Jupiter, and Enceladus, satellite of Saturn, present icy surfaces under which are oceans of water. Neptune and Uranus are also probably composed mostly of water.
NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft gave humanity its first glimpse of Neptune and its moon, Triton, in the summer of 1989. This image, taken from a distance of 4.4 million miles from the planet, shows the large dark spot and its companion light spot. These clouds have been seen to persist as long as Voyager’s cameras can resolve them. (Credit: NASA)
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY DISCOVERED THE ‘SMOKING GUN’ THAT CHANGED URANUS FOREVER
The researchers – along with the International School of Advanced Studies in Italy and UCLA – looked at the three possible phases of water that could exist on the planets – ice, liquid and superionic, and noted that the results should give scientists new ideas on what to look for.
“In such exotic physical conditions, we can’t think of ice like we’re used to. Even water is actually different, denser, with several molecules split into positive and negative ions, thus carrying an electrical charge, ”the researchers said.
“Superionic water lies somewhere between the liquid and solid phases: the oxygen atoms in the H2O molecule are organized in a crystal lattice, while the hydrogen atoms diffuse freely as in a charged fluid.”
Experts believe that Uranus may have a “frozen core,” which could explain why it is not very bright.
This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew over the seventh planet from the Sun in January 1986 (NASA)
In addition, the electrical conductivity found for the superionic phase is much greater than that assumed in previous models of magnetic field generation in Uranus and Neptune.
Since superionic water is believed to dominate the dense and slow planetary layers below the region of the convective fluid where their magnetic field is generated, this new evidence could have a major impact on the study of the geometry and evolution of fields. magnetic planets.
The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.
NASA WANTS TO EXPLORE THE MOON OF NEPTUNE, TRITON, WHICH COULD HAVE A LIFE-SUPPORTING OCEAN
In April 2019, NASA announced that almost 30 years after sending a spacecraft to Uranus and Neptune, it was considering turning back the clock.
A month earlier, scientists at NASA’s JPL had proposed a mission that would explore Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, which some believe may have an ocean hidden beneath the surface.
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Uranus and Neptune are relatively unexplored, despite Voyager 2 taking photos of both planets in 1986 and 1989.
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