A hidden moon partner? Scientists find Uranus in a rhythm with a mysterious "icy body"
A newly flagged paper led by Daniel Bamberger of Germany's Northolt Branch Observatories reports that the Centaur known as 2015 OU₁₉₄ is engaged in an extraordinary 3:4 orbital resonance with Uranus. But how is this possible, and what does that mean?
What makes this Centaur, 2015 OU₁₉₄, so special?
Since it was first spotted in 2015, 2015 OU₁₉₄ has confused astronomers. Centaurs, which are icy-rocky bodies drifting between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune, typically have unpredictable paths.
But something that makes it special is the way it moves. Unlike most Centaurs, which tend to have messy, unpredictable paths, this one follows a nearly perfect circular orbit between Uranus and Neptune. When researchers looked back at data from 2017 and 2018, they realized that its orbit was different what they originally thought; it was much more stable.
With the help of extended observations, they were able to track its path more accurately, stretching the known movement from just one year to about 3.5 years.
With this longer dataset, Daniel Bamberger and his team discovered that 2015 OU₁₉₄ is locked in a 3:4 orbital resonance with Uranus, and this pattern has likely stayed in place for a million years, and could continue for another half a million.
Why is this such a big deal?
The space beyond Uranus is usually chaotic, with objects moving in all sorts of directions. To find something so steady and synchronized is rare. This orbital 'dance' between Uranus and the Centaur keeps them from crashing into each other or drifting away.
It's the first time scientists have seen such a long-lasting relationship like this with Uranus, and it could give a new perspective on the hidden gravitational patterns shaping our solar system.
Are there any more similar objects?
In search of patterns beyond this discovery, the team also examined other Centaurs, which revealed that 2013 RG₉₈ shares a similar resonance with Uranus, although less perfectly aligned than its counterpart. Another object, 2014 NX₆₅, appears influenced by Neptune's gravity, not Uranus's (arXiv).
This might also suggest that many other minor planets in the outer solar system might be part of subtle orbital orchestrations shaped by the giant planets' gravitational fields.
What are Centaurs?
Centaurs are small, icy-rocky objects that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune. Their composition sits between asteroids and comets, often with unpredictable, shifting paths. Named after the mythical half-human, half-horse creatures, Centaurs are mysterious and unstable, which makes them interesting to scientists studying the outer solar system's history and changes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
What would happen if the sun disappeared? When will the solar system die?
The sun is the lifeblood of our solar system, a blazing star that has held everything together for over 4.6 billion years. But like all things in the universe, even our sun will not last forever. If it were to suddenly vanish, Earth and the other planets would drift into frozen darkness, and life as we know it would end within days. While that scenario is purely hypothetical, scientists do have clear predictions for how the sun will naturally die and what it means for everything orbiting it. From its fiery expansion to its quiet, final phase, the sun's life cycle will dramatically reshape the solar system. The sun's lifespan and when it will die Right now, the sun is in the prime of its life—a stable yellow star converting hydrogen into helium through nuclear fusion in its core. This life-sustaining process has been ongoing for about 4.6 billion years and is expected to continue for approximately another 5 billion years. During this time, the sun maintains the balance between gravitational collapse and outward pressure from fusion, allowing it to shine steadily. But this peaceful phase won't last forever. Once the hydrogen in the sun's core is depleted, the core will begin to collapse under its own gravity, while the outer layers will expand outward. The sun will swell into a red giant, growing so large that it will engulf Mercury and Venus—and possibly Earth. Even if Earth escapes direct consumption, the intense heat and solar winds will strip it of its atmosphere, boil its oceans, and render it uninhabitable. After the red giant phase , the sun will shed its outer layers in a luminous shell of gas known as a planetary nebula. What remains at its core is a white dwarf—a faint, incredibly dense stellar remnant about the size of Earth but containing half the sun's mass. This white dwarf will no longer generate energy but will slowly cool and fade over billions of years. During this stage, the solar system will enter a cold, dark era. Though the outer planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune may continue to orbit the white dwarf, the gravitational shifts from the sun's mass loss may destabilize their orbits over time. What comes after: the slow unraveling of the solar system across cosmic time The death of the sun marks the end of the solar system as we know it, but not its immediate obliteration. What follows is a much longer, quieter process—a cosmic fading rather than a dramatic finale. Over trillions of years, the gravitational glue that once held the planets, moons, and asteroids in neat orbits will begin to loosen. As the white dwarf cools and darkens, gravitational encounters with passing stars or galactic tidal forces may begin to disrupt the delicate balance of the remaining solar system. Planets might be flung out into interstellar space or collide with other objects. Debris fields from ancient moons and comets could spiral away, lost to the void. Some astronomers propose that even more fundamental decay could eventually dismantle the last remnants. According to certain theoretical models, protons—the building blocks of atoms—may not last forever. If proton decay does occur, albeit over timescales of 10³⁴ years or more, all matter will ultimately disintegrate into subatomic particles and radiation. This would mark the true end of everything once held together by the sun's gravity. In essence, the solar system won't end with a bang, but with a whimper stretched across eons. Long after the last light of the white dwarf has faded and its planets drift into the cold emptiness of space, what remains will dissolve into the cosmic background. Time, gravity, and entropy will do what no supernova ever could—silently erase the legacy of our once-bright star system.
Time of India
20-07-2025
- Time of India
A hidden moon partner? Scientists find Uranus in a rhythm with a mysterious "icy body"
ave you ever imagined cosmic objects dancing together through space? Recent research says that it is possible, as planet Uranus and a small icy body are locked in such a surprising routine that it almost seems to be impossible. A newly flagged paper led by Daniel Bamberger of Germany's Northolt Branch Observatories reports that the Centaur known as 2015 OU₁₉₄ is engaged in an extraordinary 3:4 orbital resonance with Uranus. But how is this possible, and what does that mean? What makes this Centaur, 2015 OU₁₉₄, so special? Since it was first spotted in 2015, 2015 OU₁₉₄ has confused astronomers. Centaurs, which are icy-rocky bodies drifting between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune, typically have unpredictable paths. But something that makes it special is the way it moves. Unlike most Centaurs, which tend to have messy, unpredictable paths, this one follows a nearly perfect circular orbit between Uranus and Neptune. When researchers looked back at data from 2017 and 2018, they realized that its orbit was different what they originally thought; it was much more stable. With the help of extended observations, they were able to track its path more accurately, stretching the known movement from just one year to about 3.5 years. With this longer dataset, Daniel Bamberger and his team discovered that 2015 OU₁₉₄ is locked in a 3:4 orbital resonance with Uranus, and this pattern has likely stayed in place for a million years, and could continue for another half a million. Why is this such a big deal? The space beyond Uranus is usually chaotic, with objects moving in all sorts of directions. To find something so steady and synchronized is rare. This orbital 'dance' between Uranus and the Centaur keeps them from crashing into each other or drifting away. It's the first time scientists have seen such a long-lasting relationship like this with Uranus, and it could give a new perspective on the hidden gravitational patterns shaping our solar system. Are there any more similar objects? In search of patterns beyond this discovery, the team also examined other Centaurs, which revealed that 2013 RG₉₈ shares a similar resonance with Uranus, although less perfectly aligned than its counterpart. Another object, 2014 NX₆₅, appears influenced by Neptune's gravity, not Uranus's (arXiv). This might also suggest that many other minor planets in the outer solar system might be part of subtle orbital orchestrations shaped by the giant planets' gravitational fields. What are Centaurs? Centaurs are small, icy-rocky objects that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune. Their composition sits between asteroids and comets, often with unpredictable, shifting paths. Named after the mythical half-human, half-horse creatures, Centaurs are mysterious and unstable, which makes them interesting to scientists studying the outer solar system's history and changes.
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Time of India
New research reveals super-Earths are common in distant orbits
Microlensing reveals distant worlds Live Events Challenging old theories Global collaboration and technology Fresh insights into planetary evolution (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A recent international study has found that super-Earth exoplanets — those larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus or Neptune — are significantly more common across the universe than previously research team, led by astronomers from Ohio State University , Harvard University, and institutions in China and Korea, uncovered evidence that these planets are not restricted to tight orbits around their stars. Instead, many can exist as far out as Jupiter does in our own solar discovery was made through gravitational microlensing , a method that detects the bending and magnification of a distant star's light caused by an intervening object such as a planet. This allowed the team to spot OGLE-2016-BLG-0007, a super-Earth around twice the mass of our own planet, orbiting at a distance wider than Saturn's."This study suggests that for every three stars, there is likely at least one super-Earth with a Jupiter-like orbital period," said Andrew Gould, professor emeritus of astronomy at Ohio State University and co-author of the study. He added, "We are beginning to realise just how abundant these massive worlds are across the cosmos."By leveraging microlensing, astronomers have opened a window into finding planets that standard detection methods often miss, particularly those in more distant most striking is how the findings challenge long-standing models of planetary formation . Traditionally, scientists believed that gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn grew through a process called runaway gas accretion. This study suggests the picture might be more complicated."We cannot yet distinguish between the two leading theories of planet formation," explained Gould. "While the dominant theory suggests gas-giant formation occurs through runaway gas accretion, other researchers propose a combination of accretion and gravitational instability. Our study adds to the complexity of these models."The results suggest that both formation pathways might be active in different environments, forcing scientists to rethink assumptions about how planets form across different types of star research would not have been possible without the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), a system of telescopes located in South Africa, Chile, and Australia. This network was designed to observe millions of stars continuously, searching for rare microlensing such events is no small task. "Finding a microlensing star event is already difficult. Finding one with a planet is even harder," said Richard Pogge, a co-author of the study and professor of astronomy at Ohio State University. He added, "We need to observe hundreds of millions of stars to detect even a handful of these microlensing signals."The technology powering KMTNet's precise measurements was built at Ohio State's Imaging Sciences Laboratory, ensuring that every fleeting anomaly could be captured and date, only 237 exoplanets have been discovered using microlensing, out of over 5,000 identified through various methods. However, astronomers are confident that improvements in technology will make detecting such distant planets increasingly the discovery of more super-Earths, the study offers broader insights into the architecture of planetary systems . It highlights that planets can be grouped by mass and composition, and points to gaps in the distribution of certain types of planets."This study was a major step forward," said Gould, adding, "Scientists have long known that smaller planets are more common than large ones, but within this pattern, we've found excesses and deficits, offering new insights into planetary distribution."Understanding these gaps could help scientists piece together how planets form, migrate, and survive in their cosmic environments. It also brings us closer to answering bigger questions about how common Earth-like worlds — and perhaps life — might be."We're reconstructing not only the history of the universe but also the processes that govern it," said Pogge. "Bringing these pieces together into a coherent picture has been incredibly rewarding."Published in the journal Science, the study marks a significant milestone in exoplanet research . It was supported by several key institutions, including the National Science Foundation, Tsinghua University, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for global collaborations strengthening and technologies sharpening, astronomers expect even more surprising discoveries about the types and distributions of planets orbiting distant new finding not only deepens our knowledge of the universe but also expands the possibilities for future exploration and, perhaps one day, the search for life beyond Earth.
