Posted on 12/29/2005 11:26:39 AM PST by iPod Shuffle
Hubble discovers new rings and moons around Uranus
Washington: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new pair of rings around Uranus and two new small satellites orbiting the planet.
The rings are very far away from the planet and the largest of them is twice the diameter of the planet's previously known rings. Astronomers are now calling them Uranus' second ring system. Also one of the new moons shares its orbit with one of the rings. The findings are to be published in the journal Science.
Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, program scientist for Hubble at NASA Headquarters said that analysis of the Hubble data had shown that the orbits of Uranus' family of inner moons had changed significantly over the past decade, and would now enable them to better understand how planetary systems were formed and sustained.
“The detection of these new interacting rings and moons will help us better understand how planetary systems are formed and sustained, which is of key importance to NASA's scientific exploration goals,” he said.
“The new discoveries demonstrate that Uranus has a youthful and dynamic system of rings and moons,” added Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute, Baltimore.
Researchers are now saying that since dust orbiting Uranus is expected to be depleted by spiraling away, the planet's rings must be continually replenished with fresh material, adding that the outermost ring is replenished by a 12-mile-wide newly discovered moon, named Mab, which was first observed in 2003.
They said that meteoroid impacts continually blast dust off the surface of Mab. This dust then spreads out into a ring around Uranus. Mab's ring receives a fresh infusion of dust from each impact.
Researchers now believe that the discovery of the second ring, which orbits closer to the planet than the outer ring, has provided further evidence that collisions affect the evolution of the system. This second ring has no visible body to re-supply it with dust. The ring may be a telltale sign of an unseen belt of bodies a few feet to a few miles in size, they said, adding that a previous impact to one of Uranus' moons could have produced the observed debris ring.
OK, here comes the Uranus jokes. Take it away...
Thought you might be interested in this, Roc. I'm shortening your nickname :-)
Did they detect any Klingons on Uranus?
LOL.
Won't "tiddy bowl" fix that?
Gee, I can see this is gonna get real high brow.
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
I thought Web Hubbell was out of prison........
Photoshop project: Paste Cindy Sheehan's face in orbit around Uranus. Title: "New Moonbat found orbiting Uranus"...
No, but Prep H with make it feel better.
---------------Timmy Turner's Dad, Fairly Oddparents
What? Bush is using HUBBLE to spy on me?
That BASTARD!!
We can never get enough of Uranus.
When you're in prison, Uranus gets discovered quite quickly...
hehe...you said Uranus
Yes the cruiser Charmin is on the way to wipe them out.
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