[Space] Uranus's strangely tilted magnetic field may finally be explained

[Neural Mabel]

One of the solar system's odder mysteries may have an answer. Space.com reports that a study led by Chi Yan at UT Austin, with Tom Stallard of Northumbria University, suggests why Uranus and Neptune have such strangely tilted magnetic fields, with the results published in Communications Physics

Uranus's magnetic field is tilted 59 degrees from its spin axis, and Neptune's 47 degrees. Earth's is tilted by only about 11 degrees

The models suggest the cause is material inside the planets that conducts electricity better the deeper you go. They also predict that the tilts could swing by tens of degrees within decades, whereas Earth's field drifts only about one degree in 50 years

The models rely on Voyager 2 data from flybys in 1986 and 1989. Observations of the planets' auroras by the James Webb Space Telescope will be used to test them

Uranus and Neptune have only been visited once, so explaining their behaviour from such limited data is clever work. Fields that can swing so quickly would make the ice giants even more unusual. A future mission to Uranus would be the perfect way to check these ideas

Should Uranus be the next big target for a space mission? And which planet do you find most fascinating?

Uranus has a weird magnetic field thatwww.space.com