The magnetic field tumbles very fast, like a child cartwheeling down a hill head over heels,” said Carol Paty associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology.”Uranus is a geometric nightmare. Its the only time a spacecraft has visited.”Understanding how these complex magnetospheres shield exoplanets from stellar radiation is of key importance for studying the habitability of these newly discovered worlds,” Cao added.24-hour full rotation.Reconnection of magnetic fields is a phenomenon throughout the solar system.”Perhaps what we see on Uranus and Neptune is the norm for planets: very unique magnetospheres and less-aligned magnetic fields,” said Xin Cao from Georgia Institute of Technology. It is one reason for Earths auroras.Uranus lies and rotates on its side, and its magnetic field is lopsided – its off-centred and tilted 60 degrees from its axis.Rather than the solar wind dictating a switch like here on Earth, Uranus rapid rotational change in field strength and orientation lead to a periodic open-close-open-close scenario as it tumbles through the solar wind, researchers said.This is much different from Earths magnetosphere, which typically only switches between open and closed in response to changes in the solar wind. Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology in the US made the discovery based on the data from NASAs Voyager 2 spacecraft that sped past Uranus in 1986..”The magnetosphere is open in one orientation, allowing solar wind to flow into the magnetosphere; it later closes, forming a shield against the solar wind and deflecting it away from the planet,” researchers said. Researchers used numerical models to simulate the planets global magnetosphere and to predict favourable reconnection locations. Since the same alignment of Earths magnetosphere is always facing toward the sun, the magnetic field threaded in the ever-present solar wind must change direction in order to reconfigure Earths field from closed to open. Those features cause the magnetic field to tumble asymmetrically relative to the solar wind direction as the icy giant completes its 17.”When the magnetised solar wind meets this tumbling field in the right way, it can reconnect and Uranus magnetosphere goes from open to closed to open on a daily basis,” she added. This frequently occurs with strong solar storms.Scientists have found that Uranus magnetic field gets flipped on and off like a light switch every day as the Solar LED tube lamp planet rotates.They plugged in data collected by Voyager 2 during its five-day flyby in 1986
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