J/A+A/684/A191 Uranus' complex internal structure (Neuenschwander+, 2024)
Uranus' complex internal structure.
Neuenschwander B.A., Mueller S., Helled R.
<Astron. Astrophys. 684, A191 (2024)>
=2024A&A...684A.191N 2024A&A...684A.191N (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Models ; Planets ; Solar system ; Abundances
Keywords: planets and satellites: composition -
planets and satellites: gaseous planets -
planets and satellites: individual: Uranus -
planets and satellites: interiors
Abstract:
Uranus' bulk composition remains unknown. Although there are clear
indications that Uranus' interior is not fully convective, and
therefore has a non-adiabatic temperature profile, many interior
models continue to assume an adiabatic interior.
In this paper we present a new method to interpret empirical structure
models in terms of composition and for identifying non-convective
regions. We also explore how the uncertainty in Uranus' rotation
period and winds affect the inferred composition and temperature
profile.
We use Uranus' density profiles from previous work where the density
is represented by up to three polytropes.
Using our new method, we find that these empirical models imply that
the interior of Uranus includes non-adiabatic regions. This leads to
significantly hotter internal temperatures that can reach a few 103K
and higher bulk heavy-element abundances (up to 1 Earth-mass) compared
to standard adiabatic models. We find that the assumed rotation period
strongly affects the inferred composition while the winds have a
negligible effect. Although solutions with only H-He and rock are
possible, we find that the maximum ratio in Uranus for our models
ranges between 2.6 and 21. This is water-to-rock significantly lower
compared to standard adiabatic models.
We conclude that it is important to include non-adiabatic regions in
Uranus structure models as they significantly affect the inferred
temperature profile, and therefore the inferred bulk heavy-element
abundance. In addition, we suggest that it is of great value to
measure Uranus' gravitational field and determine its rotation
period in order to decrease the uncertainty in Uranus' bulk
composition.
Description:
We used the method described in the paper to interpret empirical
structure models of Uranus in terms of composition. Here, we show the
obtained results of all models presented in the paper.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
1cc.dat 73 1878 Data to Model 1 CC (table 2)
1phmix.dat 73 902 Data to Model 1 P_H (table 2)
1phrock.dat 73 1212 Data to Model 1 P_H (table 1)
1pvmix.dat 73 774 Data to Model 1 P_V (table 2)
1pvrock.dat 73 1148 Data to Model 1 P_V (table 1)
1wrock.dat 73 1240 Data to Model 1 winds (table 1)
2cc.dat 73 1612 Data to Model 2 CC (table 2)
2phrock.dat 73 931 Data to Model 2 P_H (table 1)
2pvmix.dat 73 835 Data to Model 2 P_V (table 2)
2pvrock.dat 73 1163 Data to Model 2 P_V (table 1)
2wrock.dat 73 1183 Data to Model 2 winds (table 1)
3cc.dat 73 1109 Data to Model 3 CC (table 2)
3phmix.dat 73 1079 Data to Model 3 P_H (table 2)
3phrock.dat 73 1443 Data to Model 3 P_H (table 1)
3pvmix.dat 73 817 Data to Model 3 P_V (table 2)
3pvrock.dat 73 1156 Data to Model 3 P_V (table 1)
3wrock.dat 73 1749 Data to Model 3 winds (table 1)
4phmix.dat 73 1086 Data to Model 4 P_H (table 2)
4phrock.dat 73 1400 Data to Model 4 P_H (table 1)
4pvmix.dat 73 918 Data to Model 4 P_V (table 2)
4pvrock.dat 73 1219 Data to Model 4 P_V (table 1)
4wrock.dat 73 1235 Data to Model 4 winds (table 1)
5pvmix.dat 73 875 Data to Model 5 P_V (table 2)
5pvrock.dat 73 1202 Data to Model 5 P_V (table 1)
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: *.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 F7.5 --- r/R Normalized mean radius
9- 17 F9.3 kg/m3 rho Density
19- 35 F17.3 Pa P Pressure
37- 45 F9.3 K T Temperature
47- 52 F6.4 --- XY Hydrogen-helium mass fraction (proto-solar ratio)
54- 59 F6.4 --- Z1 H20 mass fraction
61- 66 F6.4 --- Z2 SiO2 mass fraction
68- 73 F6.4 --- Z3 Iron mass fraction
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Acknowledgements:
Benno Neuenschwander, benno.neuenschwander(at)outlook.com
(End) Benno Neuenschwander [UZH, Switzerland] Patricia Vannier [CDS] 24-Jan-2024