Related papers: Interior and Gravity Field Models for Uranus Sugge…
A comprehensive exploration of Uranus and Neptune is essential to understand the formation and evolution of the giant planets, in particular, solar system, in general, and, by extension, a vast population of exoplanets. Though core…
Lindal et al. (1987, J. Geophys. Res. 92, 14987-15001) presented a range of temperature and CH4 profiles for Uranus that were consistent with 1986 Voyager radio occultation measurements. A localized refractivity slope variation near 1.2…
Interior models of Jupiter and Saturn are calculated and compared in the framework of the three-layer assumption, which rely on the perception that both planets consist of three globally homogeneous regions: a dense core, a metallic…
It has been a common assumption of interior models that the outer planets of our solar system are convective, and that the internal temperature distributions are therefore adiabatic. This assumption is also often applied to exoplanets.…
Uranus and Neptune, and their diverse satellite and ring systems, represent the least explored environments of our Solar System, and yet may provide the archetype for the most common outcome of planetary formation throughout our galaxy. Ice…
Giant planets acquire gas, ices and rocks during the early formation stages of planetary systems and thus inform us on the formation process itself. Proceeding from inside out, examining the connections between the deep interiors and the…
Ground-based near-IR observations have revealed that Uranus anomalously hot upper atmosphere, detected by Voyager 2, has been steadily cooling. The observed $H_3^+$ and $H_2$ emission-line spectra probe Uranus' ionosphere and thermosphere,…
The 27 satellites of Uranus are enigmatic, with dark surfaces coated by material that could be rich in organics. Voyager 2 imaged the southern hemispheres of Uranus' five largest 'classical' moons Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and…
With its extreme axial tilt, radiant energy budget and internal heat of Uranus remain among the most intriguing mysteries of our Solar System. Here, we present the global radiant energy budget spanning a complete orbital period, revealing…
Exoplanet characterization is one of the main foci of current exoplanetary science. For super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, we mostly rely on mass and radius measurements, which allow to derive the body's mean density and give a rough estimate…
The zeta ring is the innermost component of the Uranian ring system. It is of scientific interest because its morphology changed significantly between the Voyager 2 encounter in 1986 and subsequent Earth-based observations around 2007. It…
Jupiter's gravity field observed by NASA's Juno spacecraft indicates that the density in the 10--100 GPa region is lower than one would expect from a H/He adiabat with 0.5-5x solar water abundance as has been observationally inferred in…
Constraining Jupiter's internal structure is crucial for understanding its formation and evolution history. Recent interior models of Jupiter that fit Juno's measured gravitational field suggest an inhomogeneous interior and potentially the…
The intrinsic luminosity of Uranus is a factor of 10 less than that of Neptune, an observation that standard giant planetary evolution models, which assume negligible viscosity, fail to capture. Here we show that more than half of the…
Uranus and Neptune are the archetypes of "ice giants", a class of planets that may be among the most common in the Galaxy. They hold the keys to understand the atmospheric dynamics and structure of planets with hydrogen atmospheres inside…
Aerocapture uses atmospheric drag to decelerate spacecraft and achieve orbit insertion. One of the significant risks associated with aerocapture is the uncertainty in the atmospheric density, particularly for outer planets. The paper…
The incorporation of oxygen atoms has been simulated into either nitrogen or uranium vacancy at the UN(001) surface, sub-surface or central layers. For calculations on the corresponding slab models both the relativistic pseudopotentials and…
New equations of state (EOS) for hydrogen, helium, and compounds containing heavier elements are used to construct models for the structures of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Good agreement with the gravitational moments J2 and J4 is…
The recently adopted Ariel ESA mission will measure the atmospheric composition of a large number of exoplanets. This information will then be used to better constrain planetary bulk compositions. While the connection between the…
The strikingly low luminosity of Uranus (Teff ~ Teq) constitutes a long-standing challenge to our understanding of Ice Giant planets. Here we present the first Uranus structure and evolution models that are constructed to agree with both…