Latest news with #Uranus'
South China Morning Post
19-02-2025
- South China Morning Post
Explore Australia, from its Aboriginal history to its moon landing role
Discover the captivating travel experiences Australia has to offer, from a rejuvenated post-bushfire Kangaroo Island and luxurious Kimberley region cruises to a rich tapestry of Aboriginal history and even a space exploration legacy. But will high carbon costs and reef bleaching deter travellers as the country struggles with the impact of new environmental challenges on tourism? 1. Australia's Kangaroo Island bounces back after catastrophic 2020 fires, with koalas, wallabies and tourists returning Kangaroo Island recovers remarkably after devastating bushfires, with koalas and wallabies repopulating its national parks and a rebuilt Southern Ocean Lodge hotel now boasting enhanced fire safety measures. The popular tourist destination 15km off the South Australian coast has seen its landscape regenerate and is again offering unique ecological experiences for visitors. 2. Explore the majestic Kimberley region aboard Seabourn Pursuit's unforgettable cruise from Broome to Darwin Discover prehistoric rock art, ancient landscapes, abundant wildlife, stunning waterfalls and diverse wildlife, guided by experts and traditional owners in Australia's Top End. This 10-day luxurious cruise through Australia's northern Kimberley region is a journey of a lifetime. 3. Will high carbon costs and Great Barrier Reef bleaching deter long-haul tourists from Australia and New Zealand? Australasia faces tourism challenges due to the high carbon cost of long-haul flights and the impact of Great Barrier Reef bleaching. Rising airfares, sustainable aviation fuel limitations, and the potential decline in tourism, international business events and superstar visits could all impact travelling Down Under. Sydney Harbour seen from a flight newly taken off from Sydney for Los Angeles. Rising airfares, the carbon cost of long-haul travel and the prospect of fewer flights and even higher fares are headwinds for the travel industry in Australia and New Zealand. Photo: Shutterstock 4. Discover Australia's space exploration legacy, from Neil Armstrong's 'one small step' to Aboriginal astronomy and the discovery of Uranus' rings Explore Australia's pivotal role in space exploration, from Aboriginal astronomy to the discovery of Uranus' rings at the Perth Observatory. Discover top space tourist attractions, such as key sites like Parkes Observatory and Canberra's Deep Space Communication Complex, where history was made during the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission and the historic 1969 moon landing. 5. Australia's Aboriginal history tourism offers everything from beautiful spectacles to horrifying tales of oppression The rich cultural heritage and poignant history of Indigenous Australians are highlighted in Aboriginal tourism experiences. From the breathtaking Wintjiri Wiru drone show above Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, to the poignant stories of Tasmanian resistance fighters on blak led tours, you can explore Indigenous history like never before. Part of this article was produced with the assistance of generative AI
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Deep Chasms Could Lead to a Hidden Ocean on Uranus's Moon Ariel
Our Solar System, like a sneaky little hobbit, seems to have stuffed its pockets full of hidden oceans. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have moons astronomers think might be harboring liquid oceans, locked away beneath thick icy shells. Those shells are a big problem for Earth-based scientists who desperately want to take a peek at those liquid centers, but one moon may be wearing its heart on its sleeve. The surface of Uranus's moon Ariel is scored with deep chasms – and those may contain deposits disgorged from below. Those include carbon dioxide ice and other carbon-bearing deposits that may have resulted from chemical processes taking place inside the little moon. If this is the case, it means those gorges could be a way to study the interior of this ocean world without having to undertake more dramatic research efforts. "If we're right, these medial grooves are probably the best candidates for sourcing those carbon oxide deposits and uncovering more details about the moon's interior," says planetary geologist Chloe Beddingfield of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. "No other surface features show evidence of facilitating the movement of materials from inside Ariel, making this finding particularly exciting." The chasms on the surface of Ariel are fascinating. Some of their floors are scored by parallel grooves which are among the youngest known geological features visible on the moon. It's not clear how they got there, but a lot depends on what the moon has going on beneath its surface. Previous studies suggested that they may be the result of an interaction between tectonic and volcanic activity, but the specifics have been difficult to pin down. Beddingfield and her colleagues used observation data and formation models to see if they could fill in the gaps. They were able to show that a process that takes place on Earth could be responsible for the marks we see on Ariel. Known as spreading, that process takes place on volcanic ridges here on Earth, where the seafloor parts and material rises up from below to form a new part of the crust. On Ariel, spreading could occur when warmer material surges upwards from below, splitting the moon's crust before filling the crack it created. The researchers found that when they joined the two edges of Ariel's chasms as if zipping them back up, the two sides matched perfectly; and the parallel grooves seen at the floors of some of the chasms are consistent with materials being deposited over time. There are a number of reasons this is interesting. Uranus' moons have, in the past, entered orbital lockstep, in which their orbital periods formed precise ratios known as resonance. Orbital resonance results in a gravitational push-pull that produces internal heating, melting, and refreezing. Such periods of resonance could be what drove changes on Ariel's surface; but they could also produce hidden oceans by making moons' interiors warm enough to sustain liquid, briny water. Recent observations from the JWST strongly hint that such an ocean is present on Ariel. If this is the case, the ocean could be responsible for the carbon dioxide ice seen on the moon's surface and in its chasms, but as yet we have too little information to know. "The size of Ariel's possible ocean and its depth beneath the surface can only be estimated, but it may be too isolated to interact with spreading centers," Beddingfield says. "There's just a lot we don't know. And while carbon oxide ices are present on Ariel's surface, it's still unclear whether they're associated with the grooves because Voyager 2 didn't have instruments that could map the distribution of ices." We're well past due to send an exploration mission to Uranus and Neptune. Let's add Ariel's mystery grooves to the list of things to look at when it finally happens. Chop chop, space agencies! The research has been published in The Planetary Science Journal. A Strange New Cosmic Explosion May Have Just Been Discovered Astronomers Amazed by Perfect 'Einstein Ring' Gleaming in Space Astronomers Capture Breathtaking Image of Newborn Star Taking Shape
