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In a Rare View, Rings on Uranus Show Their Changes
NY Times ^
| August 28, 2007
| HENRY FOUNTAIN
Posted on 08/28/2007 11:56:28 PM PDT by neverdem
Its that time of year on Uranus time for the semiannual ring-plane crossing, when the planets ring system appears edge-on to observers on Earth. (Unlike the other planets, Uranus spins on its side, making for extreme changes in viewing angles.) The crossing allows telescopes to take pictures of the rings from the unlighted side, free from the glare that can obscure faint parts of them.
Of course, a year on Uranus is equivalent to 84 Earth years, so this semiannual event is happening for the first time since the planets rings were discovered, in 1977. And its causing some rethinking about the rings and their stability.
Using infrared images taken by the 10-meter Keck II telescope in Hawaii, Imke de Pater of the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues report in Science Express, an online publication of the journal Science, that the rings have been going through some changes since they were first photographed in 1986 by Voyager 2.
Voyager 2 showed rings that appeared to have dust embedded in them. The new images show a broad, faint cloud of material permeating the whole system, and also show that the rings do not extend as far out from the planet as they did in previous observations.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: astronomy; moonsofuranus; planets; ringarounduranus; science; uranus
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Science
Images of Uranus and its rings show the difference in viewing angles.
1
posted on
08/28/2007 11:56:30 PM PDT
by
neverdem
To: KevinDavis
2
posted on
08/28/2007 11:58:46 PM PDT
by
neverdem
(Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
To: neverdem
My goodness, someone could have thought of a better title for this report... In a rare view, rings on Uranus show their changes, but I'm having trouble thinking one up.
3
posted on
08/29/2007 1:09:49 AM PDT
by
InShanghai
(I was born on the crest of a wave, and rocked in the cradle of the deep.)
To: neverdem
4
posted on
08/29/2007 1:10:46 AM PDT
by
AmericanInTokyo
(Visit this thread 1-hour from now. In that time, an average of 416.6 more ILLEGALS will be in the US)
To: neverdem
5
posted on
08/29/2007 1:26:44 AM PDT
by
Global2010
( Not to Late to Pray for comfort at this moment.....)
To: neverdem
A finite number of jokes will be appearing on this thread very soon.
To: neverdem
Man...the urge is unbelievable, but.........I’ll resist :)
7
posted on
08/29/2007 1:32:09 AM PDT
by
jedward
(Trust then Verify. Now you're ready to consider whether it's true or not.)
To: johnthebaptistmoore
My first thought too (lol)
8
posted on
08/29/2007 1:32:41 AM PDT
by
jedward
(Trust then Verify. Now you're ready to consider whether it's true or not.)
Yeah, it's too easy, but I'll go first..
Why the view is so rare..
9
posted on
08/29/2007 2:07:10 AM PDT
by
D-fendr
To: InShanghai
Well, I don’t know nuttin’ ‘bout no rings ... but I know skid marks.
10
posted on
08/29/2007 2:45:13 AM PDT
by
knarf
(I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true.)
To: neverdem
It could be that the outer ring, while very bright, is very thin, and thus less visible, when viewed edge-on.
11
posted on
08/29/2007 2:50:27 AM PDT
by
Izzy Dunne
(Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
To: Izzy Dunne
Try dots where the hair used to be!!!
To: neverdem
Sometimes I wish they would change the name of this planet, just to avoid these fourth grade threads.
13
posted on
08/29/2007 4:09:58 AM PDT
by
Izzy Dunne
(Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
To: Izzy Dunne
It could be that the outer ring, while very bright, is very thin, and thus less visible, when viewed edge-on. Or that the particles that form it are aligned in some way.
14
posted on
08/29/2007 5:06:48 AM PDT
by
Steely Tom
(I wasn't able to vote against Hitler, but I can vote NO on Hillary!)
To: jedward
I won’t.... how do you make rings on Uranus
15
posted on
08/29/2007 5:09:11 AM PDT
by
bert
(K.E. N.P. +12 . Hillary's color is yellow.....how appropriate)
To: Steely Tom
Yeah, I totally don't understand that alignment stuff. I read that if you made a scale model of Saturn's rings, if it was as thick as a CD, it would have to be four miles in diameter. That's how strict the alignment is.
For what you suggest to be true, they would have to be quite thin in one dimension, and aligned with the planet in that dimension. I don't suggest that that is impossible, but I have no concept of how the physics could make it so.
16
posted on
08/29/2007 6:00:42 AM PDT
by
Izzy Dunne
(Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
To: johnthebaptistmoore
"A finite number of jokes will be appearing on this thread very soon." True. The infantile are always with us...
17
posted on
08/29/2007 7:31:42 AM PDT
by
TXnMA
("Allah": Satan's current alias...)
To: neverdem
A dumb question here - are those false color photographs or is that the actual color of Uranus?
18
posted on
08/29/2007 7:36:27 AM PDT
by
reagan_fanatic
(Ron Paul put the cuckoo in my Cocoa Puffs)
To: All
There may be rings on Uranus. But speak for yourself.
19
posted on
08/29/2007 8:38:01 AM PDT
by
DPMD
(dpmd)
To: reagan_fanatic
A dumb question here - are those false color photographs or is that the actual color of Uranus?I don't know.
Unless someone is a failure at reading comprehension, there are no dumb questions, IMHO.
Here's the statement from Keck: "Using the near infrared camera (NIRC2) and adaptive optics on the Keck II telescope on May 28, the team took striking images of the nearly edge-on ring appearing as a bright line bisecting a dim Uranus, which appears dark in the infrared."
SCIENTISTS STUDY CHANGES IN PLANETS RINGS
20
posted on
08/29/2007 10:18:24 AM PDT
by
neverdem
(Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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