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Uranus Smells Like Rotten Eggs
Space.com ^ | April 23, 2018 11:00am ET | Mike Wall,

Posted on 04/23/2018 8:12:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Researchers have long wondered about the composition of the clouds high up in Uranus' sky — specifically, whether they're dominated by ammonia ice, as at Jupiter and Saturn, or by hydrogen sulfide ice. The answer has proved elusive, because it's tough to make observations with the required detail on distant Uranus. (Not only are Jupiter and Saturn closer to Earth, they have also hosted dedicated orbiter missions. Uranus has been visited just once — a brief flyby by NASA's Voyager 2 probe in January 1986.)

Irwin and his colleagues studied Uranus' air using the Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer (NIFS), an instrument on the 26-foot (8 meters) Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. NIFS scrutinized sunlight reflected from the atmosphere just above Uranus' cloud tops — and spotted the signature of hydrogen sulfide.

"Only a tiny amount remains above the clouds as a saturated vapor," study co-author Leigh Fletcher, from the University of Leicester in England, said in the same statement. "And this is why it is so challenging to capture the signatures of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide above cloud decks of Uranus. The superior capabilities of Gemini finally gave us that lucky break."

Neptune's clouds are likely similar to those of Uranus, the researchers said. The big difference between the clouds of these two "ice giants" and those of Jupiter and Saturn probably trace to the worlds' formation environments: Uranus and Neptune coalesced much farther from the sun than the two gas giants did.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: garbage; leighfletcher; uranus; xplanets
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1 posted on 04/23/2018 8:12:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Same to ya, Buddy!........................


2 posted on 04/23/2018 8:13:06 AM PDT by Red Badger (Remember all the great work Obama did for the black community?.............. Me neither.)
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To: BenLurkin

My first belly laugh of the week.


3 posted on 04/23/2018 8:13:20 AM PDT by lee martell
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To: BenLurkin

You mean Urectum?


4 posted on 04/23/2018 8:14:31 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare itself.)
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To: BenLurkin

Many of them do. Just saying.


5 posted on 04/23/2018 8:14:41 AM PDT by ExpatCanuck
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To: BenLurkin

This should be an interesting thread. Is it “breaking” news?


6 posted on 04/23/2018 8:15:01 AM PDT by Mercat
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To: BenLurkin

So there is a paper mill on Uranus?


7 posted on 04/23/2018 8:15:21 AM PDT by blackdog
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To: BenLurkin
Well, that’s just common sense 😆😉
8 posted on 04/23/2018 8:15:33 AM PDT by zlala
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To: BenLurkin

Any bets how quickly this thread gets pulled by the moderator?


9 posted on 04/23/2018 8:16:33 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: BenLurkin

Oh this is going to be fun.


10 posted on 04/23/2018 8:16:58 AM PDT by rdl6989
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To: BenLurkin

Well yes, yes it does.


11 posted on 04/23/2018 8:17:08 AM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (Wisdom and education are different things. Don't confuse them.)
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To: BenLurkin

Kids will love to hear this. Remember when we looked up b**** in the dictionary...just checking.


12 posted on 04/23/2018 8:20:19 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: BenLurkin

“Uranus Smells Like Rotten Eggs”

Yes, and sometimes Mexican.


13 posted on 04/23/2018 8:21:16 AM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest)
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To: BenLurkin

The regular appearance of brussels sprouts, onion, and garlic in my diet will certainly do that.

Not going to change now, after all of these years.

Proudly expanding my carbon (and sulfur) footprint since 1950.

Old Uranus joke but funny again with the latest finding.


14 posted on 04/23/2018 8:23:58 AM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: BenLurkin

Guessing where this thread is going......


15 posted on 04/23/2018 8:24:14 AM PDT by TruthWillWin ([MSM])
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To: BenLurkin

I wish I knew some 7th grade boys I could forward this article to.


16 posted on 04/23/2018 8:24:35 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
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To: BenLurkin

Great headline


17 posted on 04/23/2018 8:25:43 AM PDT by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: Red Badger

Oh yeah....he who smelt it dealt it......


18 posted on 04/23/2018 8:28:47 AM PDT by MomwithHope (Law and Order and that includes Natural.)
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To: BenLurkin

So does urs.


19 posted on 04/23/2018 8:29:07 AM PDT by beethovenfan (I always try to maximize my carbon footprint.)
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To: BenLurkin

Uranus smells like 0bama, and vice versa.


20 posted on 04/23/2018 8:30:03 AM PDT by windsorknot
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