The planet Uranus is strange and has a quirky name. It spins on a unique axis, which means that its magnetic field behaves like a door that opens and closes, according to research. In essence, Uranus releases gas every 17 hours.

At an inclination of nearly 98 degrees from its orbital plane, Uranus spins on its side. The majority of planets, on the other hand, spin in a direction that is near to their orbital plane. The magnetic field of the planet is likewise not what you would expect. It deviates from the planet’s axis of rotation by 59 degrees. All of these factors contribute to the peculiar nature of Uranus’ magnetosphere.

Because the planet has an odd magnetosphere, solar winds can pass through when they come in at the right angle. Scientists think that an angle like this would happen every 17 hours. Gas moving around the planet could also cause an aurora, which is an interesting idea.

After Xin Cao and Carol Paty from the Georgia Institute of Technology modeled Uranus’s magnetosphere, they found this flow of gas. The results of the model also matched what N.A.S.A’s Voyager 2 had already found.

The Voyager 2 spent five days in 1986 observing Uranus. This provided us with more knowledge about this peculiar planet, and Paty stated:

As we flew by, we caught a glimpse of a mystery. When we entered Uranus’ magnetic field, suddenly, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn were completely absent from the scene.

Later, they explained that it implied the model’s findings were comparable to those of Voyager 2’s. But we might need to send another spacecraft if we want to find out more about the magnetosphere.

George Hospodarsky of the University of Iowa has noted:The real test would be sending an orbiter there and getting lots of data in different conditions and seeing if the model still matches.

No one knows for sure when this kind of study will be done, but many people hope to learn more soon about the strange planet and its magnetosphere.

Soucre: theancientzen.com