Hubble Reveals New Moons, Rings Around Uranus

[Astronuc]

Ben Harder
for National Geographic News

December 22, 2005
California-based astronomers have found two previously undiscovered rings and two new moons in orbit around Uranus.

The discovery shows that the celestial neighborhood surrounding the seventh planet is both more populous and more physically volatile than had previously been realized.

As the newfound moons and the 16 other known satellites jockey for position around Uranus, "they're pushing and tugging on each other gravitationally in an unpredictable and apparently chaotic manner," said Mark R. Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1222_051222_uranus.html

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/33/text/

[Astronuc]

Astronomers have discovered that the planet Uranus has a blue ring - only the second found in the Solar System.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4883848.stm

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/04/06_bluering.shtml

Very cool - 

 

[Astronuc]

Dark Side of Uranus' Rings Reveals Dramatic Changes

Dusty rings have shifted since 1986 Voyager 2 flyby
By JR Minkel

A rare edge-on view of the rings around Uranus has given astronomers their first glare-free peek at them since 1986, when the Voyager 2 probe flew past our solar system's seventh planet from the sun. The shaded glimpse, permitted by the heavens once every 42 years, revealed a surprisingly bright swath of faint dust that had been obscured by reflected sunlight glinting from other rings made of larger rocks, researchers report online today in Science.

Another unexpected finding: a broad, dusty inner ring called zeta seems to have migrated further from the planet since Voyager's visit. Although the rings around Saturn and Neptune have also rearranged themselves in recent years, the report concludes that the Uranian rings are undergoing the most dramatic changes yet observed.

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