NASA Takes Advantage of Planetary Alignment to Take a Peek at Uranus

On April 7, Uranus passed in front of a distant star located 400 light-years away, giving NASA scientists a rare cosmic alignment in which to investigate the distant ice giant. During the hour-long event, called a stellar occultation, Uranus’ atmosphere refracted the star’s light, dimming it before blocking it out completely. Though it’s counterintuitive, the dimming light provided an opportunity to illuminate aspects of Uranus that are usually difficult to spot. 30 astronomers at 18 observatories across North America observed the occultation. Researchers then used the data from the event to create a light curve demonstrating how the starlight changed over time. From that light curve, scientists can extract key info about Uranus’ stratosphere, including temperature, density, and pressure, all at different altitudes. “NASA will use the observations of Uranus to determine how energy moves around the atmosphere and what causes the upper layers to be inexplicably hot,” said NASA planeta ... Read full article.