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Astronomers see 'warm' glow of Uranus's rings
phys.org ^ | 06/20/2019 | by Robert Sanders

Posted on 06/20/2019 8:55:48 PM PDT by BenLurkin

The rings of Uranus are invisible to all but the largest telescopes—they weren't even discovered until 1977—but they're surprisingly bright in new heat images of the planet taken by two large telescopes in the high deserts of Chile.

The thermal glow gives astronomers another window onto the rings, which have been seen only because they reflect a little light in the visible, or optical, range and in the near-infrared. The new images taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) allowed the team for the first time to measure the temperature of the rings: a cool 77 Kelvin, or 77 degrees above absolute zero—the boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen and equivalent to 320 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

The observations also confirm that Uranus's brightest and densest ring, called the epsilon ring, differs from the other known ring systems within our solar system, in particular the spectacularly beautiful rings of Saturn.

By comparison, Jupiter's rings contain mostly small, micron-sized particles (a micron is a thousandth of a millimeter). Neptune's rings are also mostly dust, and even Uranus has broad sheets of dust between its narrow main rings.

The lack of dust-sized particles in Uranus's main rings was first noted when Voyager 2 flew by the planet in 1986 and photographed them. The spacecraft was unable to measure the temperature of the rings, however.

To date, astronomers have counted a total of 13 rings around the planet, with some bands of dust between the rings. The rings differ in other ways from those of Saturn.

observations were designed to explore the temperature structure of Uranus' atmosphere, with VLT probing shorter wavelengths than ALMA.

(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; jupiter; neptune; saturn; science; uranus; voyager2; xplanets
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To: Magnum44
Related image
"Astronomers see 'warm' glow of Uranus's rings"
21 posted on 06/20/2019 9:15:30 PM PDT by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! Newly updated FR Page w/ Table of Contents! Click ETL)
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To: BenLurkin

Warm glow, and so? We all know flatulence from Ur anus is warm, sometime hot if you ate spicy food.


22 posted on 06/20/2019 9:16:08 PM PDT by BigEdLB (BigEdLB, Russian BOT, At your service)
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To: BenLurkin

“Astronomers see ‘warm’ glow of Uranus’s rings”

Unh,uh. Not mine they don’t ...


23 posted on 06/20/2019 9:20:22 PM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: BenLurkin

Preparation H would go a long way to help that.


24 posted on 06/20/2019 9:20:43 PM PDT by moovova
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To: BenLurkin

Probably don’t want to light any matches around those rings.


25 posted on 06/20/2019 9:20:45 PM PDT by Natty Bumppo@frontier.net (We are the dangerous ones, who stand between all we love and a more dangerous world.)
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To: Cowboy Bob

Now, that’s got Mayor Pete’s attention!


I smell second honeymoon.


26 posted on 06/20/2019 9:20:51 PM PDT by o-n-money
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To: BenLurkin

LOL! I still find it hard to believe that man was a two-term President. What a phony.


27 posted on 06/20/2019 9:21:16 PM PDT by Federal46 (federal 46)
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To: BenLurkin



28 posted on 06/20/2019 9:23:13 PM PDT by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! Newly updated FR Page w/ Table of Contents! Click ETL)
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To: BenLurkin

My God, it must be the new “smart chair” I bought. I’m getting a seat cushion.


29 posted on 06/20/2019 9:24:48 PM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham ("God is a spirit, and man His means of walking on the earth.")
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To: central_va
Warm Uranus rings, paging Buttigieg.

Q: How do Pete and Chasten have computer sex?

A: See colon, enter.

30 posted on 06/20/2019 9:26:30 PM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham ("God is a spirit, and man His means of walking on the earth.")
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To: BenLurkin

Hot rings around Uranus? There’s a country song in there somewheres


31 posted on 06/20/2019 9:33:16 PM PDT by atc23
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To: BenLurkin

Excuse me?


32 posted on 06/20/2019 9:37:28 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: BenLurkin

Thats what ‘buttplugs’ husband/wife said. I’m out.


33 posted on 06/20/2019 9:48:23 PM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: BenLurkin

The last few words of the title that were omittted are “as they celebrate gay pride month” ...


34 posted on 06/20/2019 9:52:25 PM PDT by SecondAmendment (This just proves my latest theory ... LEFTISTS RUIN EVERYTHING!)
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Urectum. …
. . . darn near killed him . . .


35 posted on 06/20/2019 9:59:56 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: BenLurkin

Uranus has a certain warm ring to it. Dontcha think Pete?


36 posted on 06/20/2019 10:00:33 PM PDT by Long Jon No Silver
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin
”...Uranus has broad sheets of dust between its narrow main rings.”

When Uranus is full of dust it’s way past time for some ExLax.

37 posted on 06/20/2019 10:28:47 PM PDT by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.`)
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To: noiseman

Country and western song “ Longing For The Warm Glow of The Rings Around Uranus. “. I’ll miss them always, they made me feel so warm.


38 posted on 06/21/2019 12:06:06 AM PDT by Equine1952 (Get yourself a ticket on a common mans train of thought. ))
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To: KevinDavis; annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Mmogamer; ...
Thanks BenLurkin. I plan to exercise a modicum of civility and restraint in this topic, although it is odd that while all the other planets are viewed using telescopy, Uranus is studied using colonoscopy.
***n, that was classy.
 
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39 posted on 06/21/2019 12:11:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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lighting farts video
Google

40 posted on 06/21/2019 12:13:40 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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