What you know about Uranus and Neptune may be wrong, reveals a new study

Photo Credit: NASA

Uranus and Neptune, long thought to be water-rich planets, may have a significant amount of methane ice, according to a recent study.

Photo Credit: NASA

The study's findings could reshape our understanding of the formation and composition of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune.

Photo Credit: NASA

Voyager 2's flyby in the 1980s provided our only direct data on Uranus and Neptune, leaving much about them unknown.

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Scientists have traditionally believed Uranus and Neptune to be composed of hydrogen, helium, and superionic water and ammonia layers.

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New models by researchers suggest that the icy giants may have accreted planetesimals rich in carbon, like today's comets from the Kuiper Belt.

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The study's lead author, Uri Malamud, utilised advanced algorithms to create hundreds of thousands of interior models for Uranus and Neptune.

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Methane, either solid or mushy, could form a thick layer between the hydrogen-helium envelope and the water layer in the planets.

Photo Credit: NASA

NASA and other space agencies are considering missions to explore Uranus, aiming to verify the methane-rich hypothesis and gain further insights into the mysterious ice giants.