Science
Related: About this forumHubble Captures First Pictures of Auroras on Uranus
By Adam Mann Email Author April 13, 2012 | 1:38 pm |
NASAs Hubble space telescope has captured the first images of auroras on the ice giant Uranus.
Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, is an oddball world. At some point in its past, the planet appears to have been knocked on its side, so now its North Pole sits where the equator on most planets is located.
The newly observed auroras seen as tiny white dots in the image above underscore just how strange Uranus really is.
Auroras, also known as the Northern Lights, appear on Earth when the solar wind a stream of charged particles emanating from the sun interacts with our planets magnetic field. While terrestrial auroras appear as giant green curtains of light and may last hours, the auroras seen recently on Uranus were relatively small and stuck around only a few minutes.
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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/04/hubble-uranus-auroras/
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)there were auras on my anus.
And what's that damn telescope doing invading my privacy, anyway?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Rush's pilonidal cyst?
DCKit
(18,541 posts)I'm soooooo calling my agent.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)Technically "Gas Giants" are primarily Hydrogen and Helium. "Ice Giants" are primarily Water, Carbon Dioxide, Ammonia, and Methane ices.
It is not improper to call them all gas giants, however.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)tclambert
(11,087 posts)Except for Loki, who was sort of a Frost Runt.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)Right, Jackpine?
But... have there been Klingon's seen circling it with toilet paper?
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Okay, I'm not so good at makin' up jokes
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)Just laugh like a geek, and it'll be funny... cause it's under "science"..
tclambert
(11,087 posts)eat more bran muffins.
tclambert
(11,087 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,269 posts)Uranus is not only stranger than you imagine, it is stranger than you can imagine.