This is a drawing depicting the motions in interior of Uranus.
Image from: The New Solar System

Motions in Uranus' Interior

Motions in the interior of a planet help carry heat from the inside to the outside.

The drawing to the left illustrates the kind of movements that happen in interior of a planet. Material rises from the interior, and flows in a roiling motion like the boiling of a pot. In the drawing are shown loops of material turning over in the upper ice layer of Uranus.

In the interior of Uranus, the ice layers are warm enough to move in this fashion. Some scientists think, however, that the interior of Uranus may have a different sort of motion.

The magnetosphere of Uranus seems to be produced by motions in the icy layers inside Uranus.

Last modified May 7, 2009 by Randy Russell.

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