Free Republic

Neptune, too, might have a new companion around. Uranus can pull and push minor bodies around. Image credit: NASA Between the orbits of Saturn and Neptune, there is a population of minor space bodies known as the Centaurs. There could be up to 10 million of them, but they tend to have unstable orbits due to the gravitational influences of the giant planets. Occasionally, some enter a temporary stable orbit, joining one of the planets in a resonance. This is what is believed to have happened between Centaur 2015 OU194 and the planet Uranus, the first ever report of this...

In a groundbreaking discovery published in The Planetary Science Journal, a team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has confirmed the existence of a rare object located far beyond Neptune. Known as 2020 VN40, this trans-Neptunian object is in a unique orbital resonance with the giant planet Neptune. For every ten orbits Neptune completes, 2020 VN40 completes one orbit around the Sun. This rare alignment provides key insights into how objects in the outer solar system behave and evolve over time. The research, which draws from extensive observations made by the Large Inclination Distant...

KYIV, July 9 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Wednesday it had detained a Chinese father and son, both suspected of spying on its prized Neptune anti-ship missile programme, a key part of Kyiv's growing domestic arms industry critical to its defence against Russian invaders. The announcement by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) follows assertions by Kyiv in recent months that Beijing, which has sought to project an image of neutrality, is helping the Kremlin's war effort.

If it’s out there, could we observe it soon?Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Some physicists believe that a fifth fundamental force could be the cause of some observational anomalies. A study is investigating ways to closely examine the trajectories of well-documented asteroids to hopefully detect anomalies that could provide evidence of such a force. Although the study shows no fifth force anomaly present in the asteroid Bennu, future explorations of the asteroid Apophis could provide an even better chance to find this elusive force—if it exists at all. According to the current Standard Model, four fundamental...

A mini planetary parade will see Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn align above the horizon Astronomy enthusiasts are in for a celestial treat at dawn tomorrow, as a stunning mini planetary parade is set to grace our skies. The early hours of the morning will witness Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn aligning just above the horizon. The prospects of catching Uranus with the naked eye might be slim, but it's anticipated that avid sky-gazers across Britain could capture glances of other planets, with some spotted even without the need for binoculars. Shedding light on this space...

All four of the sun’s giant planets emit more energy than they receive from the sun. Like the sun’s other giant worlds, Uranus (seen in this 1986 photo from the Voyager 2 spacecraft) radiates more energy than the sun gives it, though not nearly as strongly as its massive peers do. JPL/NASA ===================================================================== Uranus emits more energy than it gets from the sun, two new studies report — a discovery that contradicts findings from the venerable Voyager spacecraft. When Voyager 2 sped past Uranus on January 24, 1986, the spacecraft detected no significant excess heat from the planet, making it...

Research led by Burkhard Militzer, University of California Berkeley This false color photograph of Neptune was made from Voyager 2 images taken through three filters: blue, green, and a filter that passes light at a wavelength that is absorbed by methane gas. (Credit: NASA/JPL) In a nutshell Uranus and Neptune have weird, disorganized magnetic fields because their interiors naturally separate into two distinct layers—a flowing water-rich upper layer and a stable hydrocarbon-rich lower layer. Using advanced simulations of 540 atoms under extreme pressure and temperature, Berkeley physicist Burkhard Militzer discovered that planetary ices (water, methane, and ammonia) spontaneously separate rather...

The best chance to see as many planets as possible will be just after sunset on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Four of the planets - Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars - will be visible to the naked eye. Saturn will be harder to see because it will be low in the horizon. You will need a telescope to spot the other two planets - Uranus and Neptune. A good view of the horizon and clear skies will offer the best chance of spotting them all. However, the window to see all seven planets will be very brief. Dr Edward...

An exploded view of an ice giant planet such as Uranus or Neptune. A new theory proposes that below the dense atmosphere lies a water-rich layer (blue) that has separated from a deeper layer of hot, high-pressure carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen (amber). The pressure squeezes hydrogen out of methane and ammonia molecules, creating stratified hydrocarbon layers that cannot mix with the water layer, which prevents the convection that creates a dipolar magnetic field. Credit: Quanta magazine ============================================================================= New research at UC Berkeley offers a fresh perspective on Uranus and Neptune’s interiors, indicating layered structures of water and hydrocarbons. These findings...

The peculiar layers could explain the ice giants' magnetic peculiarities. Uranus (left) and Neptune (right) are the ice blue giants in the outer Solar System. Image credit: Patrick Irwin/University of Oxford/NASA Uranus and Neptune were only visited once by human spacecraft when Voyager 2 passed by them almost 40 years ago. During those visits, scientists measured peculiar magnetic fields unlike those seen around other planets. A recent paper suggests that the Uranus measurements might have been messed up by the Sun, but in general, it has been difficult to explain the behavior. New research suggests that the magnetic weirdness might...

New measurements of Neptune's atmosphere by a European space telescope suggest that a comet may have crashed into the gas giant about 200 years ago.Scientists analyzed the composition of Neptune's atmosphere using data from the Herschel space observatory. They found a peculiar distribution of carbon monoxide in the gas giant's atmosphere, which could be an indication of an earlier comet impact...Other similar collisions between comets (or asteroids) and planets helped the astronomers detect the telltale signs of cometary impacts.When pieces of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into Jupiter in 1994, scientists were able to examine the trajectory and debris to...

Explanation: Ringed ice giant Neptune lies near the center of this sharp near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The dim and distant world is the farthest planet from the Sun, about 30 times farther away than planet Earth. But in the stunning Webb view, the planet's dark and ghostly appearance is due to atmospheric methane that absorbs infrared light. High altitude clouds that reach above most of Neptune's absorbing methane easily stand out in the image though. Coated with frozen nitrogen, Neptune's largest moon Triton is brighter than Neptune in reflected sunlight, seen at the upper left sporting...

Over a 17-year period, an international team of astronomers monitored Neptune’s atmospheric temperatures. They discovered that Neptune’s global temperatures dropped unexpectedly, followed by a dramatic warming at its south pole. Credit: ESO/M. Roman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using ground-based telescopes, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), an international team of astronomers track Neptune’s atmospheric temperatures over a 17-year period. They found a surprising drop in Neptune’s global temperatures followed by a dramatic warming at its south pole. “This change was unexpected,” says Michael Roman, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Leicester, UK, and lead author of the...

Astronomers have used telescope data to color-correct Voyager 2 images of Neptune and Uranus, revealing that the planets have a similar greenish blue hue. VIDEO AT LINK........... Panels a and b show early images of the visible appearance of Uranus and Neptune reconstructed from Voyager 2 ISS images in 1986 and 1989, respectively, showing Uranus to be pale blue-green, and Neptune dark blue (PIA18182 and PIA01492, credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech). While these early Uranus images were close to ‘true’ colour, the Neptune images were actually stretched and enhanced. Panels c and d show more recent reconstructions of the true colours of these...

Our ideas of the colours of the planets Neptune and Uranus have been wrong, research led by UK astronomers reveals. Images from a space mission in the 1980s showed Neptune to be a rich blue and Uranus green. But a study has discovered that the two ice giant planets are both similar shades of greenish blue. It has emerged that the earlier images of Neptune had been enhanced to show details of the planet's atmosphere, which altered its true colour. "They did something that I think everyone on Instagram will have done at some time in their life, they tweaked...

Explanation: Ringed ice giant Neptune lies near the center of this sharp near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The dim and distant world is the farthest planet from the Sun, about 30 times farther away than planet Earth. But in the stunning Webb view, the planet's dark and ghostly appearance is due to atmospheric methane that absorbs infrared light. High altitude clouds that reach above most of Neptune's absorbing methane easily stand out in the image though. Coated with frozen nitrogen, Neptune's largest moon Triton is brighter than Neptune in reflected sunlight, seen at the upper left sporting...

Sorry, Jupiter. Astronomers have discovered 62 new moons orbiting the ringed planet Saturn. The satellite haul brings the planet's total number of moons to over 100 and also means the gas giant takes back the crown as the solar system's "moon king" from Jupiter. Prior to this discovery, Saturn had 83 moons recognized by the International Astronomical Union(opens in new tab), so the new batch brings the total number to an incredible 145. The discovery marks another milestone for Saturn, with the planet becoming the first world in the cosmos known to be orbited by more than 100 moons. The...

Original text, Ukrainian:Історичне відео найбільшої морської перемоги після Другой світової війни, яке ми отримали від джерел, близьких до КБ "Луч". Рівно один рік тому, 13 квітня 2022-го року, о 14.10, рохрахунок протикорабельного ракетного комплексу РК-360 Нептун Збройних сил України здійснив залп двох ракет по флагманському кораблю Чорноморського флоту РФ ракетному крейсеру "Москва". О 14.17 дві ракети вразили крейсер. "Москва" загорілась. Увечері екіпаж крейсера залишив корабель та припинив боротьбу за живучість, під час буксирування крейсера зранку 14 квітня крейсер "Москва", майже 12 тисяч тон масою, з комплексом ракетного озброєнняч, затонув. Блискучий успіх українських воїнів та інженерний подвиг конструкторського бюро "Луч" та...

Quaoar is one of the so-called trans-Neptunian objects, small planets orbiting beyond the solar system's outermost planet Neptune. Quaoar is a proud owner of its own moon, the 100-mile-wide Weywot. And a recent observation campaign revealed that it also has a ring of material in its orbit. Quaoar's ring is at a very unusual distance from its parent body. In fact, before astronomers discovered Quaoar's ring in observations from several telescopes conducted between 2018 and 2021, they had thought that it was impossible for a ring to exist at such a distance. With a radius of about 2,420 miles from...

University of Arizona scientists have uncovered a curious case of missing asteroids. The main asteroid belt is a zone containing millions of rocky objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The scientists find that there ought to be more asteroids there than researchers observe. The missing asteroids may be evidence of an event that took place about 4 billion years ago, when the solar system's giant planets migrated to their present locations. UA planetary sciences graduate student David A. Minton and UA planetary sciences professor Renu Malhotra say missing asteroids is an important piece of evidence to support an...