New measurements obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope indicate that one day in Uranus lasts 17 hours, 14 minutes and 52 seconds, which represents 28 seconds compared to the previous estimates of the Voyager 2 nave in the 80s.
The finding was presented by a team of scientists led by France, which analyzed more than ten years of dawn observations on the planet. Thanks to the detailed monitoring of Uranus magnetic poles, the team managed to obtain a more precise measure of its rotation period. Uranus, the seventh planet of the Solar System, needs 84 terrestrial years to complete an orbit around the sun.
“The continuous observations of Hubble were crucial,” said Laurent Lamy, a researcher at the Paris Observatory and main author of the study, in a statement.
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Method for measuring rotation time could be applied to other planets
According to researchers, this method could also be applied to other planets with auroras and magnetosphere to calculate its rotation with greater accuracy.
The results were published in the magazine Nature Astronomy and coincide with the proximity of the 35th anniversary of Hubble, which was launched to space on April 24, 1990 aboard NASA discovery.
With agency information
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