Posted on 04/12/2024 2:16:26 PM PDT by algore
Scientists have found methane deep within Uranus - revealing the blue planet is gassier than previously thought.
Early experiments of Uranus found the planet is primarily made up of Helium and hydrogen with a touch of methane, but a new study said it considerably outstrips previous expectations.
What's odd about the methane though, is it isn't in gas-form but is frozen or 'mushy,' - like a 7-eleven Slurpee - and is lodged in Uranus's core.
Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology and University of California Santa Cruz revealed that despite findings that said Uranus is made up entirely of ice, roughly 10 percent is actually methane.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed said the classification of Uranus as an 'ice giant' may no longer be accurate and the vast amounts of methane could have helped the planet form.
Much about Uranus is still unknown because it is located 1.9 billion miles from earth, but because the solar system is constantly moving, the distance changes daily, reaching two billion miles apart.
It has only had one spacecraft fly by it in history, the Voyager 2, in the 1980s, leaving scientists with the belief that the planet it made up entirely of ice.
To get a better understanding, the researchers developed hundreds of thousands of models of Uranus' inside and tried to determine which model most closely resembled the ice giant's mass and radius.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Friday Uranus thread....this time, we learn Uranus is packed with ice. Very cold!
“Uranus is gassier than we thought!”
No need to get personal now!!
You did not just do that.
Pass the popcorn!
Fart slushy.
Uranus and the moon both gassy. Coincidence?
Oat bran will do that...
Sheila Jackson Lee is vindicated!!!!
Has Sheila Jackson Lee been consulted on this?
Somebody waited years to write that headline!
Everybody loves Uranus on a Friday.
Didn’t need no study for that! I could have told you Uranus was gassy!
“Scientists have found methane deep within Uranus…”
Some days are worse than others.
A clear call for more probes!
I see what you did there.
This thread has potential to be a FR Classic🥳
a total eclipse and a Uranus story in one week???
It's well toned and shapely, for an old fart, but I had no idea.
I'm flattered.😊
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