Uranus – Page 2 – My WordPress Site

Two representative interior models for Uranus and Neptune with four layers: 1) hydrogen and helium, 2) H2O and hydrogen, 3) carbon-nitrogen-hydrogen mixture and 4) the rocky core composed of iron and rock. m specifies the fractional layer masses. The temperatures for B and C type models are printed without and with parenthesis. The dashed lines in the second layer mark the conditions for the transition from liquid to superionic in pure H2O. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Uranus

Ab Initio Entropy Calculations of Water Predict the Interiors of Uranus and Neptune to be 15-30% Colder than Previous Models

by Keith CowingAugust 29, 2025August 29, 2025

[LEFT] Titan [RIGHT] Uranus -- NASA.gov

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Titan, Uranus

Photochemical Haze Formation on Titan and Uranus: A Comparative Review

by Keith CowingAugust 15, 2025August 15, 2025

Potential interior structures of Uranus, Neptune, K2-18 b and TOI-270 d if they have undergone hydrogen-water demixing. We note that alternatives models are also possible (see Secs. 3 and 4). For Uranus and Neptune, the sketches correspond to the cases with Toffset = 1100 K, in which both planets are fully demixed. However, we can’t exclude scenarios in which demixing is still ongoing or does not occur at all. The sketch for K2-18 b shows a mini-Neptune scenario with ongoing demixing, while the one for TOI-270 d corresponds to a case of full demixing. -- astro-ph.EP

Ariel Mission, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Uranus

The Possibility of Hydrogen-Water Demixing in Uranus, Neptune, K2-18b and TOI-270d

by Keith CowingJuly 13, 2025July 13, 2025

Reprocessed images of Uranus [L]] and Neptune [R] NASA/JPL-Caltech (Uranus and Neptune); “Modelling the Seasonal Cycle of Uranus’s Colour and Magnitude, and Comparison with Neptune,” by Patrick G. J. Irwin et al., in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 527, No. 4; February 2024 (reprocessed images)

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Neptune, Uranus

Different Inhomogeneous Evolutionary Histories for Uranus and Neptune

by Keith CowingJune 19, 2025

Binary collision-induced H2–He absorption coefficient, α, normalized by the hydrogen and helium gas densities, as function of frequency in the fundamental band, at 296 K. The parato-ortho distribution, is representative of equilibrium H2, just as in Fig. 2. Our model (“this work”), is compared with the model of Abel et al.17 for T = 300K, and with the laboratory measurements of Vitali et al. 18 and Brodbeck et al.19 , both of which were made near 296 K. We note that neither our model nor that of Abel et al. considered the discrete, intercollisional interference dips present in the laboratory spectra. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus

Improved H2-He and H2-H2 Collision-Induced Absorption Models and Application to Outer-Planet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJune 15, 2025June 13, 2025

Uranus and its four largest moons -- NASA

Ariel, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus

The Moons of Uranus Surprise Scientists

by Keith CowingJune 12, 2025

This rendering demonstrates what is happening during a stellar occultation and illustrates an example of the light curve data graph recorded by scientists that enables them to gather atmospheric measurements, like temperature and pressure, from Uranus as the amount of starlight changes when the planet eclipses the star. NASA/Langley Research Center Advanced Concepts Laboratory Video

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Uranus

Using Stellar Occultation To Study The Atmosphere Of Ice Giant Uranus

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2025

This image of Uranus from NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows the planet and its rings in new clarity. The Webb image exquisitely captures Uranus’s seasonal north polar cap, including the bright, white, inner cap and the dark lane in the bottom of the polar cap. Uranus’ dim inner and outer rings are also visible in this image, including the elusive Zeta ring—the extremely faint and diffuse ring closest to the planet. Larger image

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ice Giant, Uranus

Uranus Flagship Science-Driven Tour Design: Community Input Poll

by Keith CowingMay 12, 2025May 12, 2025

Sketches of the two end-members of possible bulk compositions of Uranus and Neptune: a water-dominated interior (left) and a rock-dominated interior (right). The dark brown at the planetary center represents the core, which is expected to be composed of iron and rocks. The atmosphere is represented with gray. Note that the transition between different layers may be fuzzy and that currently it is still unknown whether the planetary interiors are differentiated with distinct compositional layers. Keck Institute for Space Studies / Chuck Carter

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exploration Gear & Tech, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Uranus

Ice Giants

by Keith CowingApril 29, 2025April 29, 2025

Looking at ice-giant planet Uranus over the course of 20 years - STSCI

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights

by Keith CowingApril 2, 2025May 12, 2025