Uranus is the seventh planet in the Solar System and has two sets of rings around the equator. Uranus is four times larger than Earth’s, and it rotates around its axis in a completely different way from the other planets in our star system.
| Chandra X-ray Observatory It is an X-ray telescope in Earth’s orbit. It is named after the American astrophysicist of Indian origin Subrahmanyana Chandrasekhara (1910-1995). The observatory launched the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999. |
This cold, distant body is made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, according to Reuters reports. So what makes it emit x-rays? According to NASA, the answer is very simple: especially the sun.
Additionally, astronomers have previously noted that both Jupiter and Saturn scatter the X-rays from the Sun – just as Earth’s atmosphere scatters sunlight. And so it could be with Uranus.
Are the rings themselves emit radiation?
Another possibility, according to the scientists, is that X-rays are produced by the rings of Uranus themselves, and this is also the case with the rings of Saturn.
Uranium is surrounded by charged particles such as electrons and protons. Experts believe that if their rings collide, this could directly cause the rings to emit X-rays.
For planetary rings in general, at the end of 2018, NASA said that with data from Voyager 1 and 2, scientists discovered that Saturn was slowly losing its distinctive rings. The study found that Saturn’s gravity attracts ice particles from the rings, which then turn into dust rain. It is estimated that it may completely disappear within 100 million years.
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