Uranus and Neptune are icy planets. Unlike gaseous planets like Jupiter or Saturn, they are composed of heavy elements such as ammonia and methane, in layers of ice and liquids. Both bodies are characterized by having disorganized magnetic fields. A recent study from the University of Berkeley, in California, suggests that the chaos of the magnetic fields of these planets can be explained through an interaction between layers of water and hydrocarbons located beneath their bluish atmospheres.
In his report, author Burkhard Militzer thinks that the magnetic fields of Neptune and Uranus can be explained by considering an interaction between water and a fluid composed of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. In the article published in the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, details how, through computer simulations, the pressures of both fluids generate a behavior in the magnetic field that contrasts both with that of the Earth and with that of other gaseous planets such as Jupiter or Saturn.
The magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune
Some planets have magnetic fields due to the presence of conductive materials inside them that, when moving, produce a dynamo effect. On Earth, rotational motion moves the liquid core made of iron and nickel. Thanks to this, electric currents are produced that generate a precise magnetic field around the globe.
In the solar system, virtually all planets have magnetic fields that behave similarly. Neptune and Uranus are the exception. Their fields are quite inclined, at 59° and 47° respectively, with respect to their axis of rotation, and are not symmetrical. On Earth, the north and south poles are well defined (it has a dipolar nature). The magnetosphere of Uranus and Neptune, on the other hand, is chaotic, with regions of strong intensity and without that dipolarity. In the 1980s, the Voyager 1 and 2 probes confirmed the complexity of these planets’ magnetic fields.
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