Overview
- Southwest Research Institute scientists report in Geophysical Research Letters that a co-rotating interaction region was likely sweeping past Uranus during Voyager 2’s 1986 flyby.
- By comparing Uranus measurements with well-studied Earth events, including a 2019 episode, the team links strong chorus waves to rapid electron acceleration.
- The work addresses the long-standing puzzle of intense electron belts alongside a plasma-poor magnetosphere and reconciles tensions with Kennel–Petschek limits.
- Researchers conclude the observed radiation belt reflects an extreme, transient condition rather than Uranus’s typical environment.
- The findings bolster calls for a dedicated Uranus mission to obtain repeated in situ measurements under varying solar-wind conditions, with implications for Neptune as well.