Mysterious aurora, strange ice superstar, the veil of Uranus is eventually unveiled?

Infrared spectrum imaging, from the rotation cycle matching observation, can Tianwang Xing's mysterious aurora map be glimpsed?

Scientists have drawn the most detailed Mystery Aurora Map so far

The aurora on Uranus runs in an unexpected way. (Picture source: Lost University)

For the first time, scientists used infrared spectrum to shoot the entire king star, hoping to unveil this planet's veil of its mysterious aurora and strange magnetic field.

The team led by Britain did this in the three -day event last week and witnessed the world. Scientists from the University of Leicester from the United Kingdom have observed this strange ice superstar at the Earth's 19 -fold strange ice superstar with the help of NASA's infrared telescope equipment in Hawaii.

Just like on the earth, the aurora on the heavenly star is caused by the interaction between the sun wind (the flowing particles flowed by the sun) and the planet's magnetic field. However, because the King Star is different from our planet, these aurora and the famous northern lights and southern aurora on the planet are very different.

For example, the axis rotating by Uranus must be perpendicular to the sun. This means that this planet is basically rotating around the sun on one side, while the poles almost face the stars that lasted a full quarter of the planet years and the 84th earth year.

In addition, the most important thing is that the magnetic pole of the King Xingxing is extremely inconsistent with its geographical geography. It is not like the earth, Jupiter or Saturn, but tilted 60 degrees. Therefore, Uranus's aurora will not illuminate the poles over the pole, but is in a very strange place.

"Northern light is actually extended from the northern hemisphere to the equator, and even passing through the southern hemisphere." Emma Thomas, the doctoral student of the University of Leicester's astronomy responsible for this observation, told "Space Net", "If you want to draw aurora map Watch the top of the planet, and you must watch the entire surface. "

In order to shoot the surface of the entire King of Heaven, scientists will match the observation ratio into a three -hour window period for three days.

They must calculate the time of each observation window in order to match the self -rotation cycle of Tianwangxing for 17 hours. Once this data is combined, the infrared spectrum of the most detailed surface of the distant planet will be obtained.

"We want to know where the bright part of Uranus is." Thomas said, "Uranus itself will be illuminated in the light of the day. Anything higher than this level is caused by the internal heat process or aurora. By measure the particle density above Uranus, we can distinguish what the main cause is. "

Scientists used the infrared spectrum to measure the most detailed measurement of the ice superstar Uranus. (Picture source: Lost University)

Earlier, Uranus's surface can only be used in ultraviolet spectrum. In 1986, the NASA executed travelers on the 2nd mission 2 briefly across the planet, and took the first time to shoot the only close -up photo of this strange planet surface and surrounding environment so far. In 2011, the Hubble Space Telescope first detected Aurora on the surface of Uranus, and found that every area covered was larger than the earth.

"But scientists still know little about these aurora and the driving force behind it." Thomas said.

"We still have not fully understood the phenomenon of the magnetic layer of the King Xing and its interaction with the solar style." Thomas took over. The magnetic layer is a area around the planet and is dominated by the magnetic field. "By drawing the aurora diagram, we can better grasp the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetic layer, so as to better understand how the magnetic force line is positioned."

A study in 2017 showed that scientists learned that the magnetic field on the King of Heaven was running in a very strange way, and its magnetic lines frequently disconnected within one day but re -associated.

Understanding how these aurora changes instantly within a day, it can provide new insights for studying the operating mechanism of this unstable magnetic field. Thomas said so.

However, Aurora not only follows the time of the day, but also changes with the season of the year. This depends on which side of the planet is illuminated by the sun and which side is indulged in the darkness. However, because Tian Wangxing needs 84 Earth Year a week, scientists' understanding of these seasonal changes can only be established with extremely slow progress.

"At present, we only have about one quarter of Uranus value data," Thomas said, "We can collect all the information we can collect at this moment and the next 20 to 40 years. The important role of the closure. "

By: Tereza Pultarova

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