A Mysterious Glow Warms Rings of Uranus

More Sol System changes...

Some sort of a heat wave warms the rings of Uranus, even though the planet orbits far away from the sun.

New heat images of the planet, obtained by two telescopes in Chile, reveal the temperature of the rings for the first time: minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 195 degrees Celsius), or the boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen.

While that sounds cold by Earthly standards, consider that most of space is much colder, approaching a temperature at which atoms stop moving. This point is called absolute zero, which is roughly minus 460 F (minus 273 C).

A composite image of the atmosphere and rings of Uranus seen in thermal emission.

The scientists who captured the new images said they aren't sure what's causing the relative warmth. But the weird temperature proves that the brightest and densest ring at Uranus (also known as the epsilon ring) is very different from other ring systems in our solar system.

www.space.com...

At times it has been hypothesized that Sol possibly has a companion.

As a Conspiracy theorists I have postulated could or would such a companion cause interruptions or changes to the Sol System moons, planets and also Sol from a distance or as it approaches closer

a reply to: Ophiuchus 13

Could it be that our entire solar system is warming? Just throwing the question out there since it's such a big topic on Earth.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti


From a few years ago-
Higher energy regions or pockets in Milky Way.

Many scientists suspect that the solar system has migrated to a region of the galaxy with high energy. We have the illusion that the sun is a nebulous ball of gas fixated in the sky that the rest of the solar system dances around. In reality, the sun is one star among many sitting on the outskirts of the Milky Way, hurtling through space at 72,000 kilometers per hour. Although the total amount of energy within the universe is conserved, pockets of energy in the Milky Way vary in intensity. The solar system may have rolled into one of these highly active regions.

www.space.news...

originally posted by: Ophiuchus 13
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

From a few years ago-
Higher energy regions or pockets in Milky Way.

Many scientists suspect that the solar system has migrated to a region of the galaxy with high energy. We have the illusion that the sun is a nebulous ball of gas fixated in the sky that the rest of the solar system dances around. In reality, the sun is one star among many sitting on the outskirts of the Milky Way, hurtling through space at 72,000 kilometers per hour. Although the total amount of energy within the universe is conserved, pockets of energy in the Milky Way vary in intensity. The solar system may have rolled into one of these highly active regions.

www.space.news...

When it's put that way, you realize how much we humans don't know and how insignificant we are. Planet Earth is a tiny speck in the galaxy.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

True, I do however feel some human activities that place stress on the environment increase greenhouse potential activities as well. So some outside influences and inside influences to me play parts in how the planet behaves overall.

a reply to: Ophiuchus 13

Maybe a gas cloud or something is moving through there causing friction among the objects that make up rings?

originally posted by: Ophiuchus 13
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

True, I do however feel some human activities that place stress on the environment increase greenhouse potential activities as well. So some outside influences and inside influences to me play parts in how the planet behaves overall.

Only as it relates to humanity.

In the big picture of the universe, what humans do is totally irrelevant.

Get over yourself. You, and humans, in general, are less than insignificant in terms of the universe.

It's awesome to be able to think, and ponder great philosophical things, but one shouldn't overstate it's actual relative importance

Since the rings of Uranus appear to be young, they must be continuously renewed by the collisional fragmentation of larger bodies

Aren't these continual and frequent collisions the likely source of the additional heat signatures?

No!.....aahhhh man

Ya said you wouldn't tell......

Arvggh

Came here to state that there are gas clouds around Uranus.... That is all.

a reply to: Ophiuchus 13

Came here expecting totally something else.

Darned headline


I'm a sick puppy

a reply to: SecretKnowledge
Oh this headline.......... almost too easy.

Maybe we don't even understand planetary heating and what causes it. I wonder if there is another source that we are unaware of. Maybe like a huge galactic energy stream that we haven't been able to detect as of yet. A energy stream that our sun utilizes instead of being fueled by a continuous nuclear reaction. If there were a galactic energy stream, maybe these rings are simply interfacing with it and changing the nature of the energy, some of which is being displayed through heat signatures.

It may not be obvious while lying in the sun on a hot summer’s day, but a considerable amount of heat is also coming from below you – emanating from deep within the Earth. This heat is equivalent to more than three times the total power consumption of the entire world and drives important geological processes, such as the movement of tectonic plates and the flow of magma near the surface of the Earth. But despite this, where exactly up to half of this heat actually comes from is a mystery.

theconversation.com...

They speculate this warmth is from nuclear decay, possibly from when the earth was formed. But what if it is something else? What if our position from the sun isn't as critical as they pretend? What if we have another source of heat.

a reply to: Ophiuchus 13

I wonder if the glow could be attributed to a huge expulsion of gas or if it is coming from a more solid material. Events on Uranus can have catastrophic consequences. Hopefully one day people can look at the warm glowing rings around Uranus in person instead of using a telescope.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

Here's an article from 2007 about warming on other planets in our solar system. www.livescience.com...

originally posted by: ClovenSky
Maybe we don't even understand planetary heating and what causes it.

That energy stream is an interesting theory. When I read your comment I started to think about the professed Photon belt.



The Photon Belt. The Photon Belt is the Galactic Plane alignment of hundreds of billions of Milky Way star systems. Our solar system orbits across this Photon Belt twice in approximately 26,000 years (Precession of Equinox). This 'Great Crossing' thus occurs every 13,000 years.

originally posted by: ClovenSky

They speculate this warmth is from nuclear decay, possibly from when the earth was formed. But what if it is something else? What if our position from the sun isn't as critical as they pretend? What if we have another source of heat.

I think it is possible that there are other potential heating sources. These sources may be able to already sustain civilizations within this and other planets and or moons. However if it was a situation that the current human civilization was exposed to, a life without Sol 1 would think the species evolving without direct Star influence would no longer be human or human like. Due to adapting to a new form of planetary heating/lighting.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

Sounds plausible I had also considered a possible asteroid(s) or comet(s) fly-by that may have got pulled apart and distributed into the rings causing a chemical or physical change to the materials in the rings that slightly altered- warmed the ring temperatures.

A Mysterious Glow Warms Rings of Uranus

This happens frequently when eating Ghost peppers and Carolina Reapers!!

(Note- it's more than "warm" though!!...it's like...surface of the Sun!)

originally posted by: nightbringr
a reply to: SecretKnowledge
Oh this headline.......... almost too easy.

Professor Farnsworth: I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all.

Fry: Oh. What's it called now?

Professor Farnsworth: Urectum.