We were very wrong about Uranus’ moons

UranusThe seventh planet of the solar system, is known for its impressive array of moons, of which there are currently 27. These natural satellites bear names inspired by characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Among them, the five largest and most famous are Titania, Oberon, Ariel, Umbriel and Miranda. Titania, the largest of them, has a diameter of 1,578 km, making it the eighth largest moon in the solar system. These satellites are divided into three groups: thirteen internal satellites, five primary satellites and ten irregular satellites.

And astronomy corrects the error that for many years determined expeditions to the planet’s satellites. All because of a visit more than 40 years ago by a NASA probe. Voyager 2.

New analysis shows that Voyager’s visit coincided with a powerful solar storm, leading to misconceptions about what the Uranus system is really like.

Thus, it would now be known that the largest moons are spheroidal in shape, indicating that they have reached hydrostatic equilibrium, and some show signs of internal geological activity such as canyons and volcanism on their surface.

According to the BBC, the initial problem was that the planet’s magnetic field would trap any gas and other materials escaping from the planet and its moons. This could be the oceans or geological activity. Voyager 2 found nothing, suggesting that Uranus and its five largest moons were sterile and inactive.

New research shows that as Voyager 2 flew past Uranus, the Sun was raging, creating a powerful solar wind that could blow away material and temporarily distort the magnetic field.

So for 40 years we’ve had a misconception about what Uranus and its five largest moons typically look like, according to Dr William Dunn of University College London.

“These results suggest that the Uranian system may be much more interesting than previously thought. “There could be satellites that could have the conditions necessary for life, there could be oceans teeming with fish beneath the surface.”

According to Dr. Jamie Jasinski of NASA, whose idea was to review Voyager 2’s data, the mission will have to take its findings into account when developing instruments and planning scientific research.

“Some of the tools for the future spacecraft are being developed based on what we learned from Voyager 2 when it flew past the system and experienced an anomalous event. “So we’ll have to rethink how exactly we’re going to develop the new mission’s instruments so that we can better capture the science needed to make discoveries.”

These results were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.