Alien water properties within Neptune and Uranus examined by scientists

A group of scientists from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy, and the University of California at Los Angeles have conducted new research that focusses on exploring the existence of an alien model of water within the interiors of ice giants Neptune and Uranus.

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Exploring alien waters on Neptune and Uranus

As part of the study which is detailed in SISSA's press release, researchers have made use of a theoretical computer model which gave them a representation of the internal attributes of both the planets. With the help of this tool, the researchers were also able to analyse the electrical and thermal conductivity of the water present on the two planets. The scientists have studied several different properties of the bodies of the stream that can be found in cores of both Neptune and Uranus.

“Hydrogen and oxygen are the most common elements in the Universe, together with helium. It is easy to deduce that water is one of the major constituents of many celestial bodies. Ganymede and Europe, satellites of Jupiter, and Enceladus, satellite of Saturn, present icy surfaces beneath which oceans of water lie. Neptune and Uranus are also probably composed primarily of water”, Federico Grasselli and Stefano Baroni, first and last author, explain.

Source: SISSA press release

As per their observations, the team estimated that the two planets could have water either in the liquid state or in the form of ice. The findings also suggested that the water could also be superionic, a phase of water that has very high temperatures and pressures. And while water could be available in any of the forms, the scientists have explained that the water on both Neptune and Uranus is very different from what we have on Earth.

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Federico Grasselli and Stefano Baroni of the International School for Advanced Studies and the co-authors of study have stated, as mentioned in the press release, that they cannot think of ice as humans are used to in such exotic physical conditions.

“In such exotic physical conditions, we cannot think of ice as we are used to. Even water is actually different, denser, with several molecules dissociated into positive and negative ions, thus carrying an electrical charge. Superionic water lies somewhere between the liquid and solid phases: the oxygen atoms of the H2O molecule are organised in a crystalline lattice, while hydrogen atoms diffuse freely like in a charged fluid”.

Source: SISSA press release

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The researchers also revealed that the superionic water on the planets is a lot more electrically conductive than what is found on Earth. They also suggested that superionic water could compose a huge part of the dense inner layers of the two planets. The two scientists also revealed that the electrical and thermal conduction dictates the history of the two planets. 

“The thermal and electrical transport coefficients dictate the planet’s history, how and when it was formed, how it cooled down. It is therefore crucial to analyse them with the appropriate tools, like the one we have developed. In particular, the heat conduction properties that emerge from our study allow us to hypothesise that the existence of a frozen core may explain the anomalously low luminosity of Uranus as due to an extremely low heat flux from its interior towards the surface.”

Source: SISSA press release

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Image credit: Federico Grasselli | SISSA School