Collision With a 2 Earth Mass Planet Shaped Uranus' Evolution

Uranus was hit by a massive object roughly twice the size of Earth that caused the planet to tilt and could explain its freezing temperatures, according to new research.

Astronomers at Durham University, UK, led an international team of experts to investigate how Uranus came to be tilted on its side and what consequences a giant impact would have had on the planet's evolution.

The team ran the first high-resolution computer simulations of different massive collisions with the ice giant to try to work out how the planet evolved.

The research confirms a previous study which said that Uranus' tilted position was caused by a collision with a massive object - most likely a young proto-planet made of rock and ice - during the formation of the solar system about 4 billion years ago.

The simulations also suggested that debris from the impactor could form a thin shell near the edge of the planet's ice layer and trap the heat emanating from Uranus' core. The trapping of this internal heat could in part help explain Uranus' extremely cold temperature of the planet's outer atmosphere (-216 degrees Celsius, -357 degrees Fahrenheit), the researchers said.

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Uranus evolution models with simple thermal boundary layers

Uranus evolution models with simple thermal boundary layers

Authors:

Nettelman et al

Abstract:

The strikingly low luminosity of Uranus (Teff ≃ Teq) constitutes a long-standing challenge to our understanding of Ice Giant planets. Here we present the first Uranus structure and evolution models that are constructed to agree with both the observed low luminosity and the gravity field data. Our models make use of modern ab initio equations of state at high pressures for the icy components water, methane, and ammonia. Proceeding step by step, we confirm that adiabatic models yield cooling times that are too long, even when uncertainties in the ice:rock ratio (I:R) are taken into account. We then argue that the transition between the ice/rock-rich interior and the H/He-rich outer envelope should be stably stratified. Therefore, we introduce a simple thermal boundary and adjust it to reproduce the low luminosity. Due to this thermal boundary, the deep interior of the Uranus models are up to 2–3 warmer than adiabatic models, necessitating the presence of rocks in the deep interior with a possible I:R of 1 × solar. Finally, we allow for an equilibrium evolution (Teff ≃ Teq) that begun prior to the present day, which would therefore no longer require the current era to be a ”special time” in Uranus’ evolution. In this scenario, the thermal boundary leads to more rapid cooling of the outer envelope. When Teff ≃ Teq is reached, a shallow, subadiabatic zone in the atmosphere begins to develop. Its depth is adjusted to meet the luminosity constraint. This work provides a simple foundation for future Ice Giant structure and evolution models, that can be improved by properly treating the heat and particle fluxes in the diffusive zones.

Triton’s Southern Latitudes are Covered by Non-Volatile Ices

On the surface composition of Triton’s southern latitudes

Authors:

Holler et al

Abstract:

We present the results of an investigation to determine the longitudinal (zonal) distributions and temporal evolution of ices on the surface of Triton. Between 2002 and 2014, we obtained 63 nights of near-infrared (0.67–2.55 μμm) spectra using the SpeX instrument at NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Triton has spectral features in this wavelength region from N2, CO, CH4, CO2, and H2O. Absorption features of ethane (C2H6) and 13CO are coincident at 2.405 μμm, a feature that we detect in our spectra. We calculated the integrated band area (or fractional band depth in the case of H2O) in each nightly average spectrum, constructed longitudinal distributions, and quantified temporal evolution for each of the chosen absorption bands. The volatile ices (N2, CO, CH4) show significant variability over one Triton rotation and have well-constrained longitudes of peak absorption. The non-volatile ices (CO2, H2O) show poorly-constrained peak longitudes and little variability. The longitudinal distribution of the 2.405 μμm band shows little variability over one Triton rotation and is 97 ±± 44°° and 92 ±± 44°° out of phase with the 1.58 μμm and 2.35 μμm CO bands, respectively. This evidence indicates that the 2.405 μμm band is due to absorption from non-volatile ethane. CH4 absorption increased over the period of the observations while absorption from all other ices showed no statistically significant change. We conclude from these results that the southern latitudes of Triton are currently dominated by non-volatile ices and as the sub-solar latitude migrates northwards, a larger quantity of volatile ice is coming into view.

Neptune's Internal Temperature NOT Caused by Centaur Impacts

Assessing the contribution of centaur impacts to ice giant luminosities

Author:

Dodson-Robinson et al

Abstract:

Voyager 2 observations revealed that Neptune’s internal luminosity is an order of magnitude higher than that of Uranus. If the two planets have similar interior structures and cooling histories, Neptune’s luminosity can only be explained by invoking some energy source beyond gravitational contraction. This paper investigates whether centaur impacts could provide the energy necessary to produce Neptune’s luminosity. The major findings are (1) that impacts on both Uranus and Neptune are too infrequent to provide luminosities of order Neptune’s observed value, even for optimistic impact-rate estimates and (2) that Uranus and Neptune rarely have significantly different impact-generated luminosities at any given time. Uranus and Neptune most likely have structural differences that force them to cool and contract at different rates.

The Bright Storm of Uranus in 2014

Spectral analysis of Uranus' 2014 bright storm with VLT/SINFONI

Authors:

Irwin et al

Abstract:

An extremely bright storm system observed in Uranus' atmosphere by amateur observers in September 2014 triggered an international campaign to observe this feature with many telescopes across the world. Observations of the storm system in the near infrared were acquired in October and November 2014 with SINFONI on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. SINFONI is an Integral Field Unit spectrometer returning 64x64 pixel images with 2048 wavelengths. Image cubes in the H-band (1.43 - 1.87 microns) were obtained at spatial resolutions of ~0.1". The observations show that the centre of the storm feature shifts markedly with increasing altitude, moving in the retrograde direction and slightly poleward with increasing altitude. We also see a faint 'tail' of more reflective material to the immediate south of the storm, which again trails in the retrograde direction. The observed spectra were analysed with the radiative transfer and retrieval code, NEMESIS. We find that the storm is well-modelled using either two main cloud layers of a 5-layer aerosol model based on Sromovsky et al. (2011) or by the simpler two-cloud-layer model of Tice et al. (2013). The deep component appears to be due to an increase in reflectivity and altitude of the main tropospheric cloud deck at 2 - 3 bars for both models, while the upper component of the feature was modelled as being due to either a thickening of the tropospheric haze of the 2-layer model or a vertical extension of the upper tropospheric cloud of the 5-layer model, assumed to be composed of methane ice and based at the methane condensation level at 1.23 bar. During the twelve days between our sets of observations the higher-altitude component of the feature was observed to have brightened significantly and extended to even higher altitudes, while the deeper component

Theia Wasn't Alone: Uranus Formed From Two Protoplanets Colliding

Stimulated Radiative Molecular Association in the Early Solar System. II. Orbital Radii of the Planets and Other Satellites of the Sun

Author:

Lombardi

Abstract:

In a previous investigation, the orbital radii of regular satellites of Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn are shown to be directly related to photon energies in the spectra of atomic and molecular hydrogen. To explain these observations a model was developed involving stimulated radiative molecular association (SRMA) reactions among photons and atoms in the protosatellite disks of the planets. In the present investigation, the previously developed model is applied to the planets and important satellites of the Sun. A key component of the model involves resonance associated with SRMA. Through this resonance, thermal energy is extracted from the protosun's protoplanetary disk at specific distances from the protosun wherever there is a match between the local thermal energy of the disk and the energy of photons impinging on the disk. Orbital radii of the planets and satellites are related to photon energies (EP values) in the spectrum of atomic hydrogen. An expression determined previously is used to relate EP values to temperatures in the disk. Results indicate the surface temperature of the protosun at the time when the evolution of the planets begins is higher than the surface temperature of a typical T Tauri star. The present investigation offers an explanation for the existence of the asteroid and classical Kuiper belts and predicts that a primordial belt once existed in the vicinity of Neptune. It also indicates that Uranus is formed from two protoplanets and is thus consistent with the theory that the large tilt of Uranus's axis of rotation was created by the collision of two bodies.

Salt key to Understanding Neptune and Uranus' Interiors?

The interiors of several of our Solar System's planets and moons are icy, and ice has been found on distant extrasolar planets, as well. But these bodies aren't filled with the regular kind of water ice that you avoid on the sidewalk in winter. The ice that's found inside these objects must exist under extreme pressures and high-temperatures, and potentially contains salty impurities, too.

New research from a team including Carnegie's Alexander Goncharov focuses on the physics underlying the formation of the types of ice that are stable under the paradoxical-seeming conditions likely to be found in planetary interiors. Their work, published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could challenge current ideas about the physical properties found inside icy planetary bodies.

When water (H2O) freezes into ice, the molecules are bound together in a crystalline lattice held together by hydrogen bonds. Due to the versatility of these hydrogen bonds, ice reveals a striking diversity of at least 16 different crystalline structures. But most of these structures could not exist in the interiors of frozen planets and moons.

Under high pressures, the variety of possible ice structures shrinks, just as the space between its hydrogen-bonded oxygen atoms does as the ice grows denser. When pressure is increased to more than about 20,000 times Earth's atmosphere (2 gigapascals), this number of possible ice structures is reduced to just two -- ice VII and ice VIII. Ordinary ice has a hexagonal structure. Ice VII has a cubic structure. Ice VIII has a tetragonal structure.

As the pressure increases further, both forms of ice transform to another phase called ice X. This happens at pressures around 600,000 times Earth's atmosphere (60 gigapascals), which would be comparable to the pressure conditions found in the interior of an icy-cored planet, like Neptune or Uranus. Ice X has a whole new kind of symmetrical lattice structure. It's called non-molecular ice, because the water molecule is broken apart and the hydrogen atoms are shared between neighboring oxygens.

Under similar pressures but higher temperatures, it has been suggested that ice X could possibly transform into a phase of ice that can conduct electricity as hydrogen atoms move freely around the oxygen lattice. But how such ice would be formed at the temperatures found in planetary interiors has remained mysterious.

Because the interiors of icy planetary bodies might also be salty, due to interactions between the ice and the surrounding rocks or a liquid ocean, lead author Livia Eleonora Bove of the CNRS & Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France and the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne in Switzerland and the rest of the team studied the effects of salts on the formation of the ice X from ice VII.

They found that the inclusion of salts in ice VII -- both ordinary sodium chloride (NaCl) that you have on your table and the similarly structured lithium chloride (LiCl) -- pushes the formation of ice X to occur at higher and higher pressures. Such salts could easily have been incorporated as impurities when matter accreted during the planetary formation process and be present in rocks or liquid water with which the core ice interacts.

'These findings could challenge our current thinking on the physics occurring in the interiors of icy planetary bodies,' Goncharov said. 'All of our current assumptions are based on the behavior of ice without any impurities.'

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Record-breaking Storm Activity on Uranus or did Uranus get Whacked?

Record-breaking storm activity on Uranus in 2014

Authors:

de Pater et al

Abstract:

In spite of an expected decline in convective activity following the 2007 equinox of Uranus, eight sizable storms were detected on the planet with the near-infrared camera NIRC2, coupled to the adaptive optics system, on the 10-m W.M. Keck telescope on UT 5 and 6 August 2014. All storms were on Uranus’ northern hemisphere, including the brightest storm ever seen in this planet at 2.2 μm, reflecting 30% as much light as the rest of the planet at this wavelength. The storm was at a planetocentric latitude of ∼15°N and reached altitudes of ∼330 mbar, well above the regular uppermost cloud layer (methane-ice) in the atmosphere. A cloud feature at a latitude of 32°N, that was deeper in the atmosphere (near ∼2 bar), was later seen by amateur astronomers. We also present images returned from our HST ToO program, that shows both of these cloud features. We further report the first detection of a long-awaited haze over the north polar region.

Uranian Moon Ariel is Warmer Than it Should be

Elastic thickness and heat flux estimates for the uranian satellite Ariel

Authors:

Peterson et al

Abstract:

The surface of Ariel, an icy satellite orbiting Uranus, shows extensional tectonic features suggesting an episode of endogenic heating in the satellite’s past. Using topography derived from stereo-photoclinometry, we identified flexural uplift at a rift zone suggesting elastic thickness values in the range 3.8–4.4 km. We estimate the temperature at the base of the lithosphere to be in the range 99–146 K, depending on the strain rate assumed, with corresponding heat fluxes of 28–92 mW/m2. Neither tidal heating, assuming Ariel’s current eccentricity, nor radiogenic heat production from the silicate core are enough to cause the inferred heat fluxes. None of three proposed ancient mean-motion resonances produce equilibrium tidal heating values in excess of 4.3 mW/m2. Thus, the origin of the inferred high heat fluxes is currently mysterious.

Was Uranus' Moon Miranda Resurfaced by Convection?

Global resurfacing of Uranus's moon Miranda by convection

Authors:

Hammond et al

Abstract:

Miranda, an icy moon of Uranus, is one of the most visually striking and enigmatic bodies in the solar system. Three polygonal-shaped regions of intense deformation, dubbed "coronae," dominate the surface of Miranda. Here we use numerical methods to show that sluggish-lid convection in Miranda's ice shell, powered by tidal heating, can simultaneously match the global distribution of coronae, the concentric deformation pattern, and the estimated heat flow during formation. The expected rheological conditions in Miranda's ice shell lead to the development of low-order convection that produces surface deformation patterns similar to those observed. We find that satellite core size strongly controls convection geometry and that low-order convection patterns are much more stable for core radii less than half the satellite radius.

Compositions of Uranus and Neptune due to Forming at/Past the Carbon monoxide Snow Line

THE MEASURED COMPOSITIONS OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE FROM THEIR FORMATION ON THE CO ICE LINE

Authors:

Ali-Dib et al

Abstract:

The formation mechanisms of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune, and the origin of their elemental and isotopic compositions, have long been debated. The density of solids in the outer protosolar nebula is too low to explain their formation, and spectroscopic observations show that both planets are highly enriched in carbon, very poor in nitrogen, and the ices from which they originally formed might have had deuterium-to-hydrogen ratios lower than the predicted cometary value, unexplained properties that were observed in no other planets. Here, we show that all these properties can be explained naturally if Uranus and Neptune both formed at the carbon monoxide ice line. Due to the diffusive redistribution of vapors, this outer region of the protosolar nebula intrinsically has enough surface density to form both planets from carbon-rich solids but nitrogen-depleted gas, in abundances consistent with their observed values. Water-rich interiors originating mostly from transformed CO ices reconcile the D/H value of Uranus's and Neptune's building blocks with the cometary value. Finally, our scenario generalizes a well known hypothesis that Jupiter formed on an ice line (water snow line) for the two ice giants, and might be a first step toward generalizing this mechanism for other giant planets.

The Science Case for an Uranus Orbiter

The science case for an orbital mission to Uranus: Exploring the origins and evolution of ice giant planets

Authors:

Arridge et al

Abstract:

Giant planets helped to shape the conditions we see in the Solar System today and they account for more than 99% of the mass of the Sun's planetary system. They can be subdivided into the Ice Giants (Uranus and Neptune) and the Gas Giants (Jupiter and Saturn), which differ from each other in a number of fundamental ways. Uranus, in particular is the most challenging to our understanding of planetary formation and evolution, with its large obliquity, low self-luminosity, highly asymmetrical internal field, and puzzling internal structure. Uranus also has a rich planetary system consisting of a system of inner natural satellites and complex ring system, five major natural icy satellites, a system of irregular moons with varied dynamical histories, and a highly asymmetrical magnetosphere. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have explored Uranus, with a flyby in 1986, and no mission is currently planned to this enigmatic system. However, a mission to the uranian system would open a new window on the origin and evolution of the Solar System and would provide crucial information on a wide variety of physicochemical processes in our Solar System. These have clear implications for understanding exoplanetary systems. In this paper we describe the science case for an orbital mission to Uranus with an atmospheric entry probe to sample the composition and atmospheric physics in Uranus’ atmosphere. The characteristics of such an orbiter and a strawman scientific payload are described and we discuss the technical challenges for such a mission. This paper is based on a white paper submitted to the European Space Agency's call for science themes for its large-class mission programme in 2013.

Uranus' Cupid is Doomed

Cupid is Doomed: An Analysis of the Stability of the Inner Uranian Satellites

Authors:

French et al

Abstract:

We have explored the stability of the inner Uranian satellites using simulations based on the most recent observational data. We find that, across a wide range of mass assumptions, the system is unstable, resulting in the eventual crossing of orbits and probable subsequent collision of moons. Cupid and Belinda are usually the first satellites to cross orbits, and they do so on a time scale of 10^3-10^7 years. Cressida and Desdemona are generally the next pair to cross, on a time scale of 10^5-10^7 years. We show that the crossing times are highly sensitive to initial conditions and that Cupid's instability is related to its resonant interactions with Belinda. We also show that a previously discovered power law, which relates orbit crossing time to satellite mass, is valid across a wide range of masses. We generalize the power law to handle two unstable orbital pairs with overlapping lifetimes and show that it can be used to extend the time span of studies of orbital stability in a computationally efficient manner. Our results suggest that the current Uranian satellite system is in transition and that the moons will continue to collide and reaccrete for the foreseeable future.

Understanding Uranus' Transient Trojans (? Co-orbitals at least)

Comparative orbital evolution of transient Uranian co-orbitals: exploring the role of ephemeral multibody mean motion resonances

Authors:

de la Fuente Marcos

Abstract:

Uranus has three known co-orbitals: 83982 Crantor (2002 GO9), 2010 EU65 and 2011 QF99. All of them were captured in their current resonant state relatively recently. Here, we perform a comparative analysis of the orbital evolution of these transient co-orbitals to understand better how they got captured in the first place and what makes them dynamically unstable. We also look for additional temporary Uranian co-orbital candidates among known objects. Our N-body simulations show that the long-term stability of 2011 QF99 is controlled by Jupiter and Neptune; it briefly enters the 1:7 mean motion resonance with Jupiter and the 2:1 with Neptune before becoming a Trojan and prior to leaving its tadpole orbit. During these ephemeral two-body mean motion resonance episodes, apsidal corotation resonances are also observed. For known co-orbitals, Saturn is the current source of the main destabilizing force but this is not enough to eject a minor body from the 1:1 commensurability with Uranus. These objects must enter mean motion resonances with Jupiter and Neptune in order to be captured or become passing Centaurs. Asteroid 2010 EU65, a probable visitor from the Oort cloud, may have been stable for several Myr due to its comparatively low eccentricity. Additionally, we propose 2002 VG131 as the first transient quasi-satellite candidate of Uranus. Asteroid 1999 HD12 may signal the edge of Uranus’ co-orbital region. Transient Uranian co-orbitals are often submitted to complex multibody ephemeral mean motion resonances that trigger the switching between resonant co-orbital states, making them dynamically unstable. In addition, we show that the orbital properties and discovery circumstances of known objects can be used to outline a practical strategy by which additional Uranus’ co-orbitals may be found.

Odinus: Proposed Twin ESA Missions to Neptune and Uranus

The ODINUS Mission Concept - The Scientific Case for a Mission to the Ice Giant Planets with Twin Spacecraft to Unveil the History of our Solar System

Authors:

Turrini et al

Abstract:

The purpose of this document is to discuss the scientific case of a space mission to the ice giants Uranus and Neptune and their satellite systems and its relevance to advance our understanding of the ancient past of the Solar System and, more generally, of how planetary systems form and evolve. As a consequence, the leading theme of this proposal will be the first scientific theme of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program: What are the conditions for planetary formation and the emergence of life? In pursuing its goals, the present proposal will also address the second and third scientific theme of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program, i.e.: How does the Solar System work? What are the fundamental physical laws of the Universe? The mission concept we will illustrate in the following will be referred to through the acronym ODINUS, this acronym being derived from its main fields of scientific investigation: Origins, Dynamics and Interiors of Neptunian and Uranian Systems. As the name suggests, the ODINUS mission is based on the use of two twin spacecraft to perform the exploration of the ice giants and their regular and irregular satellites with the same set of instruments. This will allow to perform a comparative study of these two systems so similar and yet so different and to unveil their histories and that of the Solar System.

A Proposal for a 550 kg Uranus Mission

Fast E-sail Uranus entry probe mission

Authors:

Janhunen et al

Abstract:

The solar wind electric sail is a novel propellantless space propulsion concept. According to numerical estimates, the electric sail can produce a large total impulse per propulsion system mass. Here we consider using a 0.5 N electric sail for boosting a 550 kg spacecraft to Uranus in less than 6 years. The spacecraft is a stack consisting of the electric sail module which is jettisoned at Saturn distance, a carrier module and a probe for Uranus atmospheric entry. The carrier module has a chemical propulsion ability for orbital corrections and it uses its antenna for picking up the probe's data transmission and later relaying it to Earth. The scientific output of the mission is similar to what the Galileo Probe did at Jupiter. Measurement of the chemical and isotope composition of the Uranian atmosphere can give key constraints for different formation theories of the solar system. A similar method could also be applied to other giant planets and Titan by using a fleet of more or less identical electric sail equipped probes.

Trojans of Uranus

BC astronomers have discovered the first Trojan asteroid sharing the orbit of Uranus, and believe 2011 QF99 is part of a larger-than-expected population of transient objects temporarily trapped by the gravitational pull of the Solar System's giant planets.

Trojans are asteroids that share the orbit of a planet, occupying stable positions known as Lagrangian points. Astronomers considered their presence at Uranus unlikely because the gravitational pull of larger neighbouring planets would destabilize and expel any Uranian Trojans over the age of the Solar System.

To determine how the 60 kilometre-wide ball of rock and ice ended up sharing an orbit with Uranus the astronomers created a simulation of the Solar System and its co-orbital objects, including Trojans.

Uranus' Weather Revealed

In 1986, when Voyager swept past Uranus, the probe's portraits of the planet were "notoriously bland," disappointing scientists, yielding few new details of the planet and its atmosphere, and giving it a reputation as a bore of the solar system.

Now, however, thanks to a new technique applied at the Keck Observatory, Uranus is coming into sharp focus through high-resolution infrared images, revealing in incredible detail the bizarre weather of the seventh planet from the sun.

The images were released in Reno, Nev. today (Oct. 17, 2012) at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences and provide the best look to date of Uranus's complex and enigmatic weather.

The planet's deep blue-green atmosphere is thick with hydrogen, helium and methane, Uranus's primary condensable gas. Winds blow mainly east to west at speeds up to 560 miles per hour, in spite of the small amounts of energy available to drive them. Its atmosphere is almost equal to Neptune's as the coldest in our solar system with cloud-top temperatures in the minus 360-degree Fahrenheit range, cold enough to freeze methane.

Large weather systems, which are probably much less violent than the storms we know on Earth, behave in bizarre ways on Uranus, explains Larry Sromovsky, a University of Wisconsin-Madison planetary scientist who led the new study using the Keck II telescope.

"Some of these weather systems," Sromovsky notes, "stay at fixed latitudes and undergo large variations in activity. Others are seen to drift toward the planet's equator while undergoing great changes in size and shape. Better measures of the wind fields that surround these massive weather systems are the key to unraveling their mysteries."

To get a better picture of atmospheric flow on Uranus, Sromovsky and colleagues Pat Fry, also of UW-Madison, Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and Imke de Pater of the University of California at Berkeley, used new infrared techniques to detect smaller, more widely distributed weather features whose movements can help scientists trace the planet's pattern of blustery winds.

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The complexity of Uranus's weather is puzzling, Sromovsky explains. The primary driving mechanism must be solar energy because there is no detectable internal energy source. "But the sun is 900 times weaker there than on Earth because it is 30 times further from the sun, so you don't have the same intensity of solar energy driving the system," explains Sromovsky. "Thus the atmosphere of Uranus must operate as a very efficient machine with very little dissipation. Yet the weather variations we see seem to defy that requirement."

The new Keck II pictures of the planet, according to Sromovsky, are the "most richly detailed views of Uranus yet obtained by any instrument on any observatory. No other telescope could come close to producing this result.