For the first time in history, astronomers have detected X-rays radiating from the Uranus with the help of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The seventh planet in our solar system, the Uranus, is a giant frozen planet, with two sets of rings around its equator and rotates on its side, which makes it different from all other planets in our solar system. It has a diameter of four times that of Earth.
To confirm the X-ray radiation researchers used data from the Chandra observations taken in Uranus in 2002 and that taken again in 2017. X-rays were clearly detected from the first observation and a possible flare of X-rays can be observed from the data obtained fifteen years later.
Researchers have also previously observed that both Jupiter and Saturn radiate X-ray light that they receive from the Sun, similar to earth.
While most of the X-rays detected from Uranus can be scattered light, there are clues that at least one other source of X-ray is present on the planet. One possibility could be that the rings of Uranus are producing X-rays themselves, similar to the case of Saturn. Another possibility is that at least some of the X-rays come from auroras on Uranus, a phenomenon that has been observed by scientists on this planet previously at other wavelengths.
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