NASA researchers had a rare opportunity to study the atmosphere and Uranus rings this month, when the ice giant passed between the earth and a distant star, creating a “star concealment.”
This strange event lasted about an hour on April 7 and was only visible from western North America. The last time that a brilliant star concealment of Uranus It happened in 1996, so NASA came prepared. An international team of more than 30 astronomers, led by planetary scientists in Nasas Carril Research Center In Virginia, he used 18 observers to collect data.
“This was the first time we collaborated on this scale for a concealment,” said William Saunders, Langey’s planetary scientist, he said In a statement.
“I am extremely grateful to each team member and each observatory for participating in this extraordinary event,” Saunders added. “By observing the concealment of many greats telescopesWe can measure the light curve and determine the atmospheric properties of Uranus in many layers of altitude. “
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For example, scientists measured the temperatures and composition of the Uranus stratosphere, the middle layer of its atmosphere. They could see how the stratosphere has changed since 1996, when NASA obtained a snapshot of the duration of Uranus’s atmosphere, the last significant star concealment.
The data that NASA has just collected “could help enable Futes Uranus exploration efforts“” Agency officials said in the statement.
Uranus, which is currently approximately 2 billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) LandIt does not have a solid surface. Instead, the planet has a soft surface that is a mixture of water, ammonia and methane. Researchers call Uranus an ice giant because their interior consists in much of these fluids, all of which have low freezing points. The planet’s atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium.
“The atmospheres of the giant planets of gas and ice [Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune] They are the exceptional atmospheric laboratories that do not have solid surfaces, “Emma Dahl, a postdoctoral academic at the California Institute of Technology that helped gather observations from the installation of NASA infrared telescope.
“This allows us to study the formation of clouds, storms and wind patterns without the additional variables and effects that a surface produces, which can complicate simulations very quickly,” he added.
NASA says that Uranus will hide several more attenuated stars in the next six years. The next significant concealment of Uranus, which will imply an even brighter star than the one blocked this month, will come in 2031.
