Exciting Update: A Day on Uranus Now 28 Seconds Longer! Discover What This Means

Uranus is spinning a bit slower than we thought. Recent research using the Hubble Space Telescope shows that its rotation takes 17 hours, 14 minutes, and 52 seconds. This is 28 seconds longer than the earlier estimate from NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft back in the 1980s.

A team of scientists led by French researcher Laurent Lamy studied auroras on Uranus over a decade. By tracking changes in its magnetic poles, they were able to determine this more accurate rotation period. Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, takes about 84 Earth years to orbit the sun.

Lamy emphasized the importance of continuous observations from Hubble in a recent statement. He noted that this method could help us calculate the rotation of other planets with similar auroras and magnetic fields.

This discovery comes just weeks before the 35th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s launch, which was placed in orbit by NASA’s space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.

Interestingly, research on planets like Uranus is more relevant today than ever. With advances in technology, scientists believe there could be more insights into the formation of our solar system. According to a 2022 survey by the National Academy of Sciences, more missions to outer planets like Uranus are being recommended to learn about their atmospheres and magnetic fields. This could reshape our understanding of both Uranus and planetary science as a whole.

As we continue to explore planets far from Earth, every new finding adds a layer of knowledge that helps us understand our place in the universe better.



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Space exploration, Science, Aerospace

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