Science 'Cataclysmic' collision turned Uranus on its side 4 billion years ago

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...lanet-its-side-4-billion-years-ago/754315002/

Talk about a big bang.

A "cataclysmic" collision some 4 billion years ago between Uranus and another massive object forever changed the evolution of the giant planet, a new study suggests.

Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, "spins on its side, with its axis pointing almost at right angles to those of all the other planets in the solar system," said study lead author Jacob Kegerreis, a researcher at Durham University in the United Kingdom.

Kegerreis and his team ran computer simulations of different massive collisions with Uranus to try to work out how the planet evolved.

“The most likely outcome was that the young Uranus was involved in a cataclysmic collision with an object twice the mass of Earth, if not larger, knocking it on to its side and setting in process the events that helped create the planet we see today," he said.

The object likely struck a grazing blow on the planet, since a direct hit would have destroyed its atmosphere. The research could also help explain how Uranus’ rings and moons formed, as the impact could have jettisoned rock and ice into orbit around the planet.

Uranus is similar to most of the planets discovered in other solar systems, so the researchers hope their findings will help explain how those "exoplanets" evolved.

NASA's Luis Teodoro, a study co-author, said that "all the evidence points to giant impacts being frequent during planet formation, and with this kind of research we are now gaining more insight into their effect on potentially habitable exoplanets.”

The first planet found with the aid of a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel, NASA said. The planet was named for the Greek god of the sky.

The study was published Monday in The Astrophysical Journal.

 

[Judge Holden]

I believe the scientific term for this is "Planetary Prolapse"

 

[BILLY MAYS]

I think we need a "Uranus General" thread

 

[MuuMuu Bunnylips]

So Uranas took one for the team?

 

[usernames can change now!]

There's always exciting things to learn from probing Uranus.

 

[LocalFireDept]

Glad to know something smashed Uranus really hard to explain why it's like that.

 

[Cthulu]

I banged Uranus a few times. It was kinda shitty.

 

[Mariposa Electrique]

A sexual molestation by an older body did turn Uranus gay, I knew it.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

Uranus is a pretty crazy place. Ever hear that some of the bigger moons of Uranus (which are named for Shakespeare characters for some reason) are going to collide in a few million years in some epic explosion?

There's always exiting things to learn from probing Uranus.

Agreed. It's too bad Uranus is the least probed planet in the Solar System at this point.

 

[Cthulu]

It's too bad Uranus is the least probed

We can correct that

 

[Plunkie]

butthole pun

 

[PantsFreeZone]

"I'm going to treat you like a planet and turn Uranus sideways, bitch." is my new pickup line.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Too bad that object wasn't coated in organic lube like that extrasolar dildo from a few months back. Uranus got blasted on its side because god got excited and tried for a dry run.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

This guy slaps Uranus. How do you react?

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Maybe Uranus got the Finger of God.

Spoiler

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

We can correct that

Hopefully soon. Most people in this thread weren't even born the last time (and only time ) we visited Uranus. We don't know jack shit about Uranus and that needs to change.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Oranos was a titan not a god, this science article is mythologically inaccurate.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

I thought this was common knowledge.

 

[Hiragana]

Uranus, please point at the orrery where the planetoid touched you.

 

[TowinKarz]

I thought this was common knowledge.

To people who care, yes, it's known Uranus sits practically on it's side, and all planets that have a tilted axis took "hits" to get that way, since they should be 90 degrees to the orbital plane, they pretty much think that any planet with a moon that isn't just a captured asteroid in a stable orbit is the coalesced debris from early-solar system impacts between forming planets (including Earth) but, a lot of people don't, so on a slow news day, yeah, it seems amazing...

I think this is the first time someone sat down and ran the numbers to determine just how big it was, though, so there's that.