Astronomers have detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, as shown in this image from March 2021. This result may help scientists learn more about this enigmatic ice giant planet in our solar system.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and has two sets of rings around
its equator. The planet, which has four times the diameter of Earth, rotates on
its side, making it different from all other planets in the solar system.
Since Voyager 2 was the only
spacecraft to ever fly by Uranus, astronomers currently rely on telescopes much
closer to Earth, like Chandra and the Hubble Space Telescope, to learn about this
distant and cold planet that is made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.
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.
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXO/University College London/W. Dunn et al;
Optical: W.M. Keck Observatory
Last Updated: Jun 4, 2021 Editor: Yvette Smith
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/detecting-x-rays-from-uranus
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