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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.
As with Earth's magnetosphere, the boundary separating the solar wind's plasma from that within Saturn's magnetosphere is called the magnetopause. [2] The magnetopause distance from the planet's center at the subsolar point [ note 1 ] varies widely from 16 to 27 R s (R s =60,330 km is the equatorial radius of Saturn).
In other words, magnetized planets have flows of electrically conducting material in their interiors, which generate their magnetic fields. These fields significantly change the interaction of the planet and solar wind. A magnetized planet creates a cavity in the solar wind around itself called the magnetosphere, which the wind cannot penetrate.
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.
Such a visit likely would have shown that the Uranus magnetosphere is similar to those of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, the solar system's other giant planets, the researchers said.
Gravitational accelerations at L 4. The Hill sphere is the region in which an astronomical body dominates the attraction of satellites. Of the Solar System planets, Neptune and Uranus have the largest Hill spheres, due to the lessened gravitational influence of the Sun at their far orbits, however all of the giant planets have Hill spheres in the vicinity of 100 million kilometres in radius.
An image of the planet Uranus taken by the NASA spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. New research using data from the mission shows a solar wind event took place during the flyby, leading to a mystery ...
The four giant planets have planetary rings, thin discs of tiny particles that orbit them in unison. [47] As a result of the formation of the Solar System, planets and most other objects orbit the Sun in the same direction that the Sun is rotating. That is, counter-clockwise, as viewed from above Earth's north pole. [48]