NASA researchers announce analysis results
Underground radioactive material radiates heat
Melting ice in the ground to create oceans
Uranus’ satellite ‘Titania’ photographed by Voyager 2 in 1986. It is assumed that there is an ocean underground. Provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Analysis has shown that there is a high possibility that underground oceans exist on the four moons of Uranus, the eighth planet in the solar system, and that this is due to radioactive materials such as uranium contained in the ground of the satellites. This means that underground ice melts due to the heat emitted by radioactive materials, creating a large amount of liquid water. Because liquid water was the primary contributor to the birth of life on Earth, the results of this study are attracting the attention of the space science community.
Space.com, an American science and technology magazine, reported on the 1st (local time) that researchers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published an analysis in the latest issue of the international academic journal ‘Astrobiology’ that there is a high possibility that an ocean exists underground in the satellite orbiting Uranus. reported. There are four Uranus moons that researchers estimate may have underground oceans: Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, and Ariel. The diameters are all about 1,000 to 1,500 km, which is much smaller than the Earth’s moon (3,470 km).
Uranus is the 8th planet in the solar system. The distance from the sun is 3 billion km. It is about 20 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Because of this, Uranus is very cold. The surface temperature reaches -220 degrees Celsius. Uranus’ moons also exhibit similarly low surface temperatures.
Although it is underground, the reason researchers believe a liquid ocean exists in such a cold place is because of the radioactive material inside the satellite. Radioactive materials such as uranium emit heat on their own, and the hypothesis is that this heat melted underground ice and created an underground ocean. A significant portion of the heat generated inside the Earth is also caused by these radioactive substances.
In 2022 and last year, some space science circles predicted that underground oceans could exist on Uranus’ satellites due to radioactive materials, and this hypothesis is expected to receive further support with the addition of the researchers’ analysis.
The fact that the satellites of Uranus generate their own heat source that creates an underground ocean is different from the satellites of Jupiter, which are also presumed to have an underground ocean. The underground oceans that appear to exist on Jupiter’s moons, such as Europa, are formed due to Jupiter’s gravity. Jupiter’s powerful gravity squeezes and unfolds Europa, creating friction, and the heat generated at this time melts the ice beneath Europa and turns it into an ocean.
In the case of Uranus, it does not have strong gravity like Jupiter. Gravity becomes stronger when the mass is heavy, and the mass of Uranus is only one-seventh that of Jupiter. The satellites of Uranus created underground oceans on their own, even without support from their parent planet.
In their paper, the researchers stated, “By studying the satellites of Uranus, we will be able to obtain data on the formation and evolution of marine worlds outside Earth, as well as the possibility of habitation of life.”
