Space giant Uranus - the planet of secrets and mysteries

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Space exploration is constantly moving forward. To date, a lot of expeditions are being organized, the purpose of which is to study the nearest planets, asteroids and comets. Uranus does not stand aside either. A planet that is far away from Earth rotates in an elongated elliptical orbit. It takes 84 Earth years to complete one revolution around the Sun. Interesting is the fact that no more than three years have passed since its discovery in 1781 on Uranus.

This space giant is fraught with many interesting and mysterious secrets. For example, the axis of its rotation differs markedly from other axes of the planets of the solar system. Therefore, Uranus is a planet that rotates, "lying on its side." Scientists attribute this feature to the fact that its equatorial plane is located at an angle of 98 degrees relative to the orbit. In comparison, Uranus is like a ball that rolls in a circle, while the rest of the planets are more reminiscent of a spinning top or spinning top.

Uranus is a member of the group of giant planets. It is located in third place in size, yielding, of course, to Jupiter and Saturn. Costswhile noting that Uranus is a planet 15 times larger than our native Earth in diameter. The discovery of his system of rings became a real sensation in the world of science. There are 11 of them in total, they are narrow, dense and separated from each other by a considerable distance. These belts are made of stones, so their color is jet black. Before that, it was believed that only the planet (6th from the Sun) Saturn has a ring system.

After the planet Uranus was explored by the automatic space probe "Voyager -2", the photos transmitted by it led to the conclusion that this space giant was originally formed from solid stone blocks and ice. It should be understood that ice refers not only to water, but also to many other chemicals. It was also found that, unlike Saturn and Jupiter, whose atmosphere consists of hydrogen and helium, the air masses of Uranus also contain large amounts of acetylene and methane. In the central latitudes of the planet, the wind is raging, which directs the clouds of these gases like the earth's, its speed reaches 160 m / s. The blue color of Uranus is due to the absorption of red solar radiation by methane in the uppermost parts of the atmosphere.

There is another feature that characterizes Uranus. The planet is surrounded by four magnetic poles at once. With the help of them, Uranus built a system around itself, consisting of satellites and rings. She looks like this. In the inner part of the asteroid belt there are 12 small satellites, followed by 5 main ones, and already on the outer side of the rings there are 9 more small space objects. Small satellites have a dark surface and reflect only 6-7% of the light that hits them. The 17 satellites closest to the giant planet move within its magnetic field. They never leave its limits. This phenomenon is still being studied. But it has already become clear that the structure of the magnetic sphere of Uranus is much more complex than that of the Earth, because satellites have an additional and quite definite influence on it.