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The planet also has very low internal heat compared to other giant planets, the cause of which remains unclear. Like the other giant planets, Uranus has a ring system, a magnetosphere, and many natural satellites. The extremely dark ring system reflects only about 2% of the incoming light.
The plasma in the magnetosphere co-rotates with the planet, continuously impinging on the trailing hemispheres of slowly moving moons. [51] While ring particles and the majority of moons only passively absorb plasma and energetic charged particles, three moons – Enceladus, Dione and Titan – are significant sources of new plasma.
A rendering of the magnetic field lines of the magnetosphere of the Earth. In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. [1] [2] It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo.
Voyager 2's visit to Uranus may have left us with the complete wrong impression of the ice giant for nearly 40 years, according to a new study. ... about the planet’s magnetosphere that now may ...
Uranus, which orbits almost 20 times further from the sun than Earth does, has 28 known moons and two sets of rings. The Voyager 2 observations had suggested that its two largest moons - Titania ...
Two additional rings were discovered in 1986 in images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, and two outer rings were found in 2003–2005 in Hubble Space Telescope photos. In the order of increasing distance from the planet the 13 known rings are designated 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν and μ.
The planet's magnetosphere, though small enough to fit within Earth, [97] is strong enough to trap solar wind plasma. This contributes to the space weathering of the planet's surface. [104] Observations taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft detected this low energy plasma in the magnetosphere of the planet's nightside. Bursts of energetic ...
The Ganymedian magnetosphere has a region of closed field lines located below 30° latitude, where charged particles (electrons and ions) are trapped, creating a kind of radiation belt. [96] The main ion species in the magnetosphere is single ionized oxygen [24] (O +) which fits well with Ganymede's tenuous oxygen atmosphere.