
Scientists uncover new details about Uranus' atmosphere, strange seasons
The study was published by a research group comprising scientists from the University of Arizona in the US as well as other institutions. It sheds light on the atmospheric composition and complex dynamics governing the mystery planet. The researchers were able to provide new information about Uranus after analysing images of the planet captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope over the last 20 years.
The Hubble images of Uranus were taken between 2002 and 2022. As per the study, Uranus' atmosphere is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, along with small amounts of methane as well as minute quantities of water and ammonia.
Uranus is located between Saturn and Neptune. As the seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus remains one of the least understood planets in our solar system which is why the new research study may be significant. Scientists who authored the study also provided more information about seasonal changes on the planet. Unlike other planets, Uranus' axis of rotation is nearly parallel to its orbital plane.
It is likely that Uranus collided with an Earth-sized object, which might be the reason why it is said to be rotating in an 'overturned' position. As a result, it takes 84 years for the planet to complete one revolution around the Sun. This means that the surface of the planet gets sunshine for 42 years and the next 42-year-period is dark.
Over the course of the 20-year-long study, researchers were able to observe only a part of the seasonal change of Uranus' atmosphere.
The research builds on existing information about Uranus, like the fact that the planet is composed mainly of water and ammonia ice. It is approximately 51,000 kilometres in diameter, making Uranus four times bigger than the Earth with a mass that is 15 times greater than that of Earth's. Uranus also has 13 rings and 28 moons.
NASA's Voyager 2 is the only space probe mission that has explored the planet by conducting a flyby in January 1986. However, the group of scientists behind the new study said that they will continue to observe Uranus and gather more information on seasonal changes in its polar regions.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
5 minutes ago
- The Hindu
NISAR Mission: Satellite will be placed in orbit by Indian rocket, says ISRO chief
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for a major milestone with the launch of the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission on July 30, 2025. According to Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space, the satellite will be placed in orbit by an Indian rocket. While speaking to reporters on Friday (July 25, 2025), Dr. Narayanan said, 'On the 30th of July, we are going to have the NISAR mission. The satellite will be placed in orbit by the Indian rocket...' ISRO said that it will launch the NISAR, the first joint Earth observation satellite by ISRO and NASA, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on July 30 at 5:40 p.m. Additionally, ISRO stated that the satellite would provide high-resolution, day-and-night, all-weather data by scanning the entire world every 12 days, identifying minute variations in the Earth's surface, such as vegetation dynamics, ice sheet shifts, and ground deformation. 'The mission will support many critical applications, including sea ice monitoring, ship detection, storm tracking, soil moisture changes, surface water mapping, and disaster response. A milestone in over a decade of collaboration between ISRO & NASA/JPL,' it added. According to ISRO, the NISAR satellite, weighing 2,392 kg, will be injected into a 743 km Sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98.40 degrees. Equipped with dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar—NASA's L-band and ISRO's S-band—NISAR features a 12-metre unfurlable mesh reflector antenna integrated into ISRO's modified I3K satellite bus. Utilising SweepSAR technology for the first time, the satellite will offer a 242 km swath with high spatial resolution, enabling comprehensive Earth observation. 'NISAR, weighing 2392 kg, is a unique Earth observation satellite and the first satellite to observe the Earth with a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (NASA's L-band and ISRO's S-band), both using NASA's 12m unfurlable mesh reflector antenna, integrated to ISRO's modified I3K satellite bus. NISAR will observe Earth with a swath of 242 km and high spatial resolution, using SweepSAR technology for the first time,' ISRO stated in a press release. NISAR's ability to provide high-resolution, all-weather data every 12 days will support critical applications, from tracking climate change impacts to aiding disaster management. 'The satellite will scan the entire globe and provide all weather, day and night data at 12-day intervals and enable a wide range of applications. NISAR can detect even small changes in the Earth's surface, such as ground deformation, ice sheet movement and vegetation dynamics. Further applications include sea ice classification, ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterisation, changes in soil moisture, mapping & monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response,' the release added.


Mint
34 minutes ago
- Mint
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps' review: New Marvel effort is competent at best
Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby premiered the Fantastic Four in a comic book in 1961, and the quartet soon came to be known as Marvel's 'first family'. They lived together as a family, tackling both interpersonal issues and intergalactic threats. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a reboot with a brand-new cast that places this family of superheroes firmly within the MCU's multiverse sprawl. Set on Earth-828, First Steps recalls how four space travellers were transformed into beings with superpowers. It begins with a fateful space mission led by Dr. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), accompanied by astronauts Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), his sister Susan Storm (Vanessa Kirby), and Reed's best friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). When their ship passes through a cosmic storm, the event changes them forever. Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, is a no-nonsense genius with an elastic body. Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, can create force fields and turn invisible. Johnny Storm becomes the Human Torch, able to burst into flames and fly. Ben Grimm is physically transformed into The Thing, a super-strong, rock-skinned pilot and fighter—with sad eyes. Their trusted assistant is a robot named HERBIE. Four years after the incident, the group is known and revered as the Fantastic Four—protectors of the planet. The team is more or less settled into their roles when things go wildly off the rails. The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives with a warning: Galactus, a cosmic force with an insatiable appetite, is headed toward Earth to devour the planet. The Fantastic Four embark on a discovery mission, but when they return, it's not as heroes—instead, they bring back information that turns public opinion against them. It's now up to the Fantastic Four to save both their family and the planet from Galactus. Director Matt Shakman delivers a familiar setup and while Jack Kirby's colourful cartoon vibrancy is felt in some of the film's aesthetic, the overall tone feels surprisingly weary—particularly because Pedro Pascal himself looks worn out. The cast does their best with the material. The actors bring a decent dynamic to the group, even if some roles feel undercooked. Reed is earnest but lacks the emotional depth the character demands. Susan is caught between duty and maternal instincts, though Vanessa Kirby appears uncomfortable handling a baby. Johnny is given the most interesting arc, and Quinn injects some much-needed energy into the group. Ben provides the emotional core, occasionally grappling with his monstrous form. The team chemistry works in moments, but there is barely enough breathing room for them to feel like a real family. A few endearing moments do land—Reed baby-proofing the apartment in preparation for Franklin's birth, and Ben attempting to connect with a schoolteacher are notable highlights. Plot-wise, the film hits all the expected beats: discovery, conflict, a third-act citywide disaster, all barreling toward the end-credits scene that teases the next MCU tie-in. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is competent at best—a reboot with cosmic ambition that barely attains lift-off. Udita Jhunjhunwala is a Mumbai-based writer.


The Print
2 hours ago
- The Print
ISRO and NASA's billion-dollar baby is ready to launch. NISAR will watch every inch of Earth
The project is significant not only because it marks the first collaboration between ISRO and NASA on this scale, but also because of the satellite's ability to scan all of Earth's land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days. This will help record both large and small climatic and geographical changes over time. After a delay of over a year, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar ( NISAR ) mission is now scheduled to launch on 30 July from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, aboard India's heavy-lift rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F16 (GSLV-F16). New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation and the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration are set to launch a first-of-its-kind Earth observation satellite, designed to survey the planet like never before. As an equal partner in NISAR's development, ISRO is consolidating India's position in the global space sector as a trusted and dependable business associate. It is for this reason that the ISRO-NASA partnered NISAR satellite is ThePrint's Newsmaker of the Week. Also read: Lift the veil, abandon Soviet-era approach. Indian science community wants ISRO to up its PR game What does NISAR promise? NISAR promises to usher in a new era of global Earth observation capabilities. The high-resolution images it provides will enable scientists to better understand the processes behind natural hazards and catastrophic events such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Its ability to penetrate cloud cover will be key in improving emergency responses during weather-related disasters like floods, storms, and hurricanes. According to NASA, the NISAR satellite will also provide crucial data on changes in ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, and enhance scientific understanding of how deforestation, permafrost loss, and fires affect the carbon cycle. 'The data will be accessible to all users across a range of disciplines, with potential applicability in disaster response, infrastructure monitoring and agricultural decision support,' NASA said in a mission document. Data from NISAR could change our approach to disaster preparedness and management. All data from the satellite will be available within one to two days of observation. In emergencies such as natural disasters, the turnaround time will shrink to just a few hours. NASA's Sanghamitra Dutta, the programme executive for NISAR, highlighted the massive scale of data generation. 'NISAR will capture over 4,300 GB of Earth imagery each day. You will need nearly eight 512 GB laptops to hold such a volume of data,' she said. Over its expected lifespan of more than three years, NISAR satellite will accumulate over 5,00,000 GB of data—enough to fill approximately 3,000 laptops. At a recent press conference, NASA announced that 80 organisations, both public and private, have already signed up to use NISAR data. 'Remote-sensing missions like NISAR are storytellers about how the Earth and humans interact, and how we connect with the planet,' said Paul Rosen, project scientist for NISAR. 'NISAR is a truly unique storyteller,' he added. The partnership—first conceptualised in 2007 and finally inked in 2014—is the most expensive Earth observation satellite mission ever, with a price tag of $1.5 billion. Of the total project cost, ISRO has contributed Rs 469.4 crore and will also cover the launch costs. Also read: Rakesh Sharma to Shubhanshu Shukla—India's space programme is entering a bold new era NISAR satellite—the technology NISAR is being touted as the most powerful Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite ever developed. At the press conference, NASA revealed that the satellite will be roughly the size of a pickup truck. Its main body houses engineering systems and a first-of-its-kind dual radar payload—an L-band radar with a 10-inch wavelength, and an S-band radar, also with a 10-inch wavelength. India's contribution is significant: the S-band radar was built by the ISRO Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. It was shipped to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 2021, where the L-band radar was being developed. NASA and ISRO scientists integrated the two systems between 2021 and 2022. The satellite was then sent to India in March 2023 for final preparations and launch. NISAR launch delay This 9,000-mile-long partnership between India and the US faced its share of hurdles. NISAR satellite, which took over a decade to come together, was first scheduled for launch in 2024. But technical faults led to a delay. Just weeks before the initial launch window in March-April 2024, engineers discovered a problem with the large deployable antenna. The component had to be returned to the US to protect the spacecraft's reflector—a 12-metre-wide antenna—while in its stowed configuration. 'Testing and analysis identified a potential for the reflector to experience higher-than-previously-anticipated temperatures in its stowed configuration in flight,' NASA said in a statement. To mitigate this, engineers applied a special coating to increase the antenna's reflectivity and reduce heat absorption. Although NASA resolved the issue within a few months, the wait for NISAR's launch did not end. Between October 2024 and February 2025, the launch was deemed unfeasible. During this period, the Sun's position would expose the satellite to alternating cycles of heat and shadow, potentially causing temperature fluctuations that could jeopardise the satellite's boom and radar antenna. But now, NISAR's time has finally come. The world is about to receive a treasure trove of Earth data like never before. And along with ISRO and NASA, the entire scientific community is watching with excitement. (Edited by Prashant)