Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, space experts have picked apart X-rays coming from Uranus, revealing a formerly dark feature of this magnificent ice planet.
The new finding, published in JGR: Physics, means that X-ray emissions have been detected on every planet in the solar system except Neptune. In addition, the discovery could provide new information about more distant X-ray-emitting objects, such as black holes, supernovae, quasars and neutron stars. The new paper was led by astronomer William Dunn from University College London.
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Made mostly of hydrogen and helium, the planet Uranus displays two ring arrangements, both in a circle above the equator. The planet is somewhat unusual in that it rotates on its side compared to the plane of its neighboring planetary group (no other planet does this). NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft visited Uranus in 1986, so in addition to that, astronomers have relied on telescopes such as Chandra and Hubble to examine the planet.
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Dunn, along with physicist Affelia Wibisono, a PhD student at UCL and co-author of the study, uncovered evidence of Uranus' X-ray emissions in Chandra collected in 2002 and 2017. The 2002 data was collected by the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, while the 2017 data came from Chandra's High Resolution Camera. The observed signals are very faint, but they are there.
With the confirmation of X-rays in Uranus, the challenge now is to determine the cause.
"There are three main ways a planet can produce X-rays: fluorescence, scattering of solar X-rays, and acoustic emissions," Wibisono explained in an article.
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Further "observations of Uranus by Chandra and other X-ray telescopes are required before we can give a more specific answer about the cause," Wibisono admits.
Source of information: edition.cnn.com
