When i read the descriptions of Uranus or Neptun, i dont get the feeling of how is it to make an "entering" in that planet. Let me see if i can explain my idea with an example. Imagine that you are describing the structure of the earth to an alien. Briefly, you would say that if he was in a ship, coming in to earth, first he would see a thin atmosphere made of nytrogen and blabla, wittha blue sky. From the atmosphere it would be possible look down and see th "ground" of the planet, made of stone with larger areas of water...and so on. If the ship was able to dig into the ground, it would pass thourgh some meters of rock until...etc Now, i dont get exactly the description o Uranus even when i read it. I dont get: First you will pass though an atmosphere of Hydrogen. Which is the colour of the sky? Are you able to see something or is that like passing through clouds (like in earth) or smog? Can you see the ground? I dont get this one exactly: s the rocky area of Uranus, the "ground"? Or is it more like the mantle/center of the Earth ( i mean, an area difficult to acess)? Is it possible for a ship to land on it? Due to my english i dont know if you are able to understand my question...i hope you can Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The reasons are because there have not been any explorations of Uranus for the only way so far is with a fly by of a probe that only viewed that planet from afar.
Mephura, its more or less that. I have descriptions from it in many places, but i dont get the feeling. When they say that the core is 213,3,2% made of XPTO and that after the atmosphere, made of 5345% of blabla, etc, etc, i dont get the visual sense of how things are organised. It seems that we are talking of seperated things, like if the atmosphere of Uranus is one thing and the core is other completly apart. I know that is a silly question, but i really dont get if crossing Uranus is like entering into a sea, or into a place of heavt clouds, or if you will ever touch ground, and so many other questions that can give you that real feeling abotu how Uranus is. Cosmictraveler, i think u are correct. Probably is that the reason.
No, you couldn't land on the rocky core because, as it also happens with the other 3 giant planets, is surrounded by a liquid layer Scheme of the layers of Uranus
and afte r the liquid layer there is an atmosphere...is that it? the liquid layer, is it something like a big sea or more like our mantle (too hot, and in a state that is not so liquid as water)?
Uranus?? How about mine!!! Hehehe, sorry but i had toPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
the only reason the liquid layer is still liquid is because of the immense pressure being put on it. below the liquid layer is supposedly solid rock.
The atmosphere of Uranus is mostly clear , although it is a little hazy; the colour is mostly caused by Rayleigh scattering, so you would see a hazy blueish sky as yo descended into the planet. The Sun is a tiny,but brilliant,disc, like looking at the Sun on Earth through a small hole. But the atmosphere is too dense to remain transparent- before you reached the icy layer above the rocky core, it would be dark. The pressure is so great that the atmosphere would become liquid without a proper transition if I recall correctly, so you would not see any surface to the liquid layer.
thanks, i can see better how Uranus look like, now. John Smith: looool! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!, that was funny!
I will attempt To describe a decent toward the center of Uranus. As you approach the planet you will see a pale blue dot enlarging to a tremendous sphere. You will also either see strongly banded or weakly banded cloud structures depending on the Uranian Season, summer produces stronger banding. As we enter the atmosphere the ship will be buffeted, even very close to the envelope of entry, by strong winds. As you descend throught the atmosphere it rapidly becomes thicker and the winds buffet the craft even more vigerously. Eventually the craft lands in an ocean of Viscous Liquid Methane that has traces of ammonia and bubbles of upward moving Hydrogen Bubbles. Eventually you reach a Metallic/stoney core.
I don't think that an ocean of liquid methane exists in Uranus. There's an ocean of water surrounded by an ocean of liquid hydrogen and helium, as seen in this picture. Where did you read about the methane ocean?
Phase diagrams are rather strange at high pressure; your image shows the interior of Uranus to be mostly liquid water, while this one http://cseligman.com/text/planets/uranus/uranusint.jpg shows it to be mostly water ice. I think the pressure inside this planet might be so high that there is no practical difference between the two models.
