Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Volk bomb here with a classic episode
Speaker 1: from the brain Stuff archives. This one has to do
Speaker 1: with one of the amazing discoveries made in recent years
Speaker 1: about one of our neighboring planets in the Solar System.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vog O bomb here. Urinus stinks
Speaker 1: and I'm not joking. This enigmatic Outer Solar System planet
Speaker 1: has long had a credibility problem, with it being the
Speaker 1: butt of countless immature jokes. Now astronomers have discovered a
Speaker 1: gas in Urinas's clouds that does nothing to curtail this
Speaker 1: humor at all. Thanks science, The newest study published in
Speaker 1: the journal Nature Astronomy has discovered the chemical signature of
Speaker 1: hydrogen sulfide in the planet's clouds, a compound that gives
Speaker 1: rotten eggs their distinctive stench. Besides launching a bevy of
Speaker 1: new puns, this finding could transform or understanding of how
Speaker 1: our Solar System evolved. It may also help us to
Speaker 1: understand the atmospheres of massive planets orbiting other stars. A
Speaker 1: first a bit of background. Uranus has only been visited
Speaker 1: by a spacecraft once, when NASA's voyager to zipped past
Speaker 1: the planet in the fly by produced many beautiful and
Speaker 1: iconic views of this almost featureless, light blue world, and
Speaker 1: astronomers have made countless ground based observations of Uranus in
Speaker 1: hopes of better understanding the composition of its atmosphere. Despite
Speaker 1: these efforts, however, we know little about this far away planet,
Speaker 1: but the discovery of hydrogen sulfide is a big step forward,
Speaker 1: and it could only be done using one of our
Speaker 1: planets most powerful observatories. Using the near infrared integral field
Speaker 1: spectrometer that's attached to the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii,
Speaker 1: astronomers were able to detect the very slight spectroscopic signature
Speaker 1: of hydrogen sulfide in the uppermost layers of uranus is clouds.
Speaker 1: This whiff of hydrogen sulfide is only the tip of
Speaker 1: the ode differous iceberg. However, the presence of this gas
Speaker 1: is indicative of a huge reservoir below the obscuring cloud deck.
Speaker 1: Co investigator Lee Fletcher of the University of Leicester, UK,
Speaker 1: in a Gemini North statement, said only a tiny amount
Speaker 1: of hydrogen sulfide remains above the clouds as saturated vapor,
Speaker 1: and this is why it's so challenging to capture the
Speaker 1: signatures of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide above cloud decks of Uranus.
Speaker 1: The superior capabilities of Gemini finally gave us that lucky break.
Speaker 1: Astronomers have long argued over whether hydrogen sulfide or ammonia
Speaker 1: dominate Uranus's clouds. It's well known that the inner massive
Speaker 1: planets Jupiter and Saturn have atmospheres dominated by ammonia ice,
Speaker 1: whereas Urinus and presumably Neptune do not. It's those very
Speaker 1: differences in atmospheric conditions that place Jupiter and Saturn in
Speaker 1: the gas giant category and Uranus and Neptune in the
Speaker 1: ice giant category, and these differences reveal an insight as
Speaker 1: to where the planets formed. As Fletcher said, during our
Speaker 1: Solar System's formation, the balance between nitrogen and sulfur, and
Speaker 1: hence ammonia and Uranus is newly detected. Hydrogen sulfide was
Speaker 1: determined by the temperature and location of the planet's formation.
Speaker 1: The thought is that early in our Solar System's history,
Speaker 1: the massive planets migrated from where they initially formed, eventually
Speaker 1: setting into stable orbits where we see them today. Through
Speaker 1: the analysis of chemicals in their clouds, Astronomers can now
Speaker 1: formulate theories as to how far away from the Sun
Speaker 1: these giant worlds formed and where they migrated from. With
Speaker 1: this information in mind, astronomers can then look to other
Speaker 1: stars and gain an insight as to how and where
Speaker 1: giant exoplanets formed. This is all very interesting, but a
Speaker 1: big question that scientists are likely answering right now is
Speaker 1: if we could inhale Uranus's atmosphere, would it kill us?
Speaker 1: The smell would certainly be unpleasant, but it's not the
Speaker 1: stench that would kill you. A lead study author Patrick
Speaker 1: Irwin of the University of Oxford, UK explained in the
Speaker 1: press release Suffocation and exposure in the negative two hundred
Speaker 1: degrees Celsie's atmosphere, made mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane,
Speaker 1: would take its toll along before the smell. So we'll
Speaker 1: skip the vacation plans, but still keep an eye on
Speaker 1: this fascinating, if stinky planet. Today's episode is based on
Speaker 1: the article Scientists Confirm Uranus Stinks on how stuff Works
Speaker 1: dot com, written by Ian O'Neill. Brain Stuff is production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio in partnership with How Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: Dot com and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more
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