'Traffic jams' around Uranus could solve the mystery of its weak radiation belts

The mystery dates back to Voyager 2's visit to Uranus in January 1986, far before the probe left the solar system in 2018. The spacecraft found that Uranus' magnetic field is asymmetric and tilted roughly 60° away from its spin axis. Additionally, Voyager 2 found that the radiation belts of Uranus, consisting of particles trapped by this magnetic field, are about 100 times weaker than predicted.

"It has a magnetic field like no other in the solar system. Most planets that have strong intrinsic magnetic fields, like Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. They have a very 'traditional' magnetic field shape, which is known as a dipole," lead author Matthew Acevski told Space.com. "This is the same magnetic field shape as you would expect from your everyday bar magnet. At Uranus, this is not the case; Uranus' field is highly asymmetric — and it becomes increasingly so closer to the planets’ surface."

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