Magnetic Fields of Uranus and Neptune tagged posts

Evidence of Superionic Ice provides New Insights into Unusual Magnetic Fields of Uranus and Neptune

Evidence of superionic ice provides new insights into the unusual magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune
The magnetic field of Neptune, like that of the Earth, is not static but varies over time. Pictured is a snapshot from August 2004. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

How a conductive form of ice is formed at several thousand degrees and millions of times atmospheric pressure. Not all ice is the same. The solid form of water comes in more than a dozen different – sometimes more, sometimes less crystalline – structures, depending on the conditions of pressure and temperature in the environment. Superionic ice is a special crystalline form, half solid, half liquid — and electrically conductive. Its existence has been predicted on the basis of various models and has already been observed on several occasions under — very extreme — laboratory conditions...

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