UCLA Study Recasts Uranus and Neptune as Magma Worlds, Not 2 Ice Giants
Updated
Updated · Universe Today · Jun 26
UCLA Study Recasts Uranus and Neptune as Magma Worlds, Not 2 Ice Giants
2 articles · Updated · Universe Today · Jun 26
Summary
UCLA researchers used computer models to argue Uranus and Neptune may contain magma oceans rather than the icy mantles long assumed beneath their hydrogen-helium atmospheres.
The model aims to explain both planets' puzzling magnetic fields and heat distribution, problems that standard ice-giant interior theories have struggled to match.
It proposes 3 main layers: an outer hydrogen-helium atmosphere, a boundary zone containing elements including magnesium and silicon monoxide, and a deep magma ocean of silicate, iron and hydrogen.
The study, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, also links the planets to sub-Neptune exoplanets—common worlds about 1 to 4.5 Earth radii whose formation remains poorly understood.
Voyager 2 remains the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune—in 1986 and 1989—and no return mission is currently planned despite concepts such as Uranus Orbiter and Probe and Neptune Odyssey.