Solar System News (miscellaneous articles)

[JCooper]

Even Emirates do their best to join the ranks of spacefaring nations. However, the UAE space agency was established not so long ago, in 2014. And after only seven years, they managed to launch an orbiter to Mars. That's why I stand for startups. Each country has at least one-two aspiring companies that show a lot of promise, of course, except the third-world countries. However, many African countries already take part in the space race: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Algeria, etc. I got interested in one British company called Skyrora. You've probably heard about it at least once. I have every reason to believe that it will raise the British space industry to a new level. Here is the link to their website if anyone is interested https://www.skyrora.com/.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

 

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In the new study, researchers used Chandra observations taken in Uranus in 2002 and then again in 2017. They saw a clear detection of X-rays from the first observation, just analyzed recently, and a possible flare of X-rays in those obtained fifteen years later. The main graphic shows a Chandra X-ray image of Uranus from 2002 (in pink) superimposed on an optical image from the Keck-I Telescope obtained in a separate study in 2004. The latter shows the planet at approximately the same orientation as it was during the 2002 Chandra observations.

 

What could cause Uranus to emit X-rays? The answer: mainly the Sun. Astronomers have observed that both Jupiter and Saturn scatter X-ray light given off by the Sun, similar to how Earth’s atmosphere scatters the Sun’s light. While the authors of the new Uranus study initially expected that most of the X-rays detected would also be from scattering, there are tantalizing hints that at least one other source of X-rays is present. If further observations confirm this, it could have intriguing implications for understanding Uranus.

 

//Snip

(Source: Link in above tweet)

 

 

Think it's past time to send another probe to Uranus.

 

 

[adrynalyne]

1 hour ago, Jim K said:

 

 

 

 

Think it's past time to send another probe to Uranus.

 

 

Giggity.

[DocM]

2024 N. American solar eclipse live stream 

 

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Discovered by the Large inclination Distant Objects (LiDO) survey and designated 2020 VN40, this trans-Neptunian object is the first confirmed body that orbits the Sun once for every 10 orbits Neptune completes. This discovery, reported in paper in the Planetary Science Journal, helps scientists understand how objects in the outer Solar System behave and how they got there. It supports the idea that many distant objects are temporarily ‘caught’ in Neptune’s gravity as they drift through space.

The survey was designed to search for bodies with orbits that extend far above and below the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, part of the outer Solar System that hasn’t been well-studied.

“It has been fascinating to learn how many small bodies in the Solar System exist on these very large, very tilted orbits,” said Dr. Samantha Lawler, an astronomer at the University of Regina and a member of the LiDO team.

2020 VN40’s average distance is about 139.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth and follows a very tilted path around the Solar System.

What makes the object even more interesting is how it moves compared to Neptune.

https://www.sci.news/astronomy/trans-neptunian-object-2020-vn40-14077.html

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Artifacts from the Iron Age have revealed an intense historical magnetic anomaly in the Middle East. Could using a similar approach elsewhere help us unravel the mysteries of Earth's magnetic field?

Ben-Yosef, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University, had been working in southern Jordan with Ron Shaar, who was analyzing archaeological materials around the Levant. Shaar, a geologist at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was building a record of the area's magnetic field.

The hunk of copper slag — a waste byproduct of forging metals — they found recorded an intense spike in Earth's magnetic field around 3,000 years ago.

Shaar worked hard to give them more evidence. After they had analyzed and described samples from around the region for more than a decade, the anomaly was accepted by the research community and named the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly (LIAA). From about 1100 to 550 B.C., the magnetic field emanating from the Middle East fluctuated in intense surges.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/earths-magnetic-field-is-weakening-magnetic-crystals-from-lost-civilizations-could-hold-the-key-to-understanding-why

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Uranus releases about 15% more energy than it receives from the Sun, according to two new papers published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The amount of heat a planet exudes could be an indication of its age: the less heat released relative to the heat absorbed from the Sun, the older the planet is.

Uranus stood out from the other planets because it appeared to give off as much heat as it received, implying it had none of its own.

This puzzled scientists. Some hypothesized that perhaps the planet is much older than all the others and has cooled off completely.

Others proposed that a giant collision — the same one that may have knocked the planet on its side—blasted out all of Uranus’ heat.

But none of these hypotheses satisfied scientists, motivating them to solve Uranus’ cold case.

https://www.sci.news/space/warmer-uranus-14079.html

 

[astropheed Veteran]

Makes you wonder what’s really going on deep inside Uranus. Interesting that it’s been harbouring a little more internal activity than expected. Glad scientists are digging into it. It’s high time Uranus got the attention it deserves.

[adrynalyne]

On 20/07/2025 at 22:49, astropheed said:

Makes you wonder what’s really going on deep inside Uranus. Interesting that it’s been harbouring a little more internal activity than expected. Glad scientists are digging into it. It’s high time Uranus got the attention it deserves.

I’m dying. 🤣

[astropheed Veteran]

On 21/07/2025 at 16:01, adrynalyne said:

I’m dying. 🤣

Toss that idea. This might be just the rim of the iceberg.

[FloatingFatMan]

On 21/07/2025 at 07:01, adrynalyne said:

I’m dying. 🤣

 

On 21/07/2025 at 07:33, astropheed said:

Toss that idea. This might be just the rim of the iceberg.

SO glad I'm not the only child on the forum...

 

[neufuse Veteran]

Well URANUS is gaseous, so you know

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