Abstract
This paper discusses key measurements which are diagnostic of Uranus' interior structure and evolutionary history, and reviews their present status. Typical interior models have chondritic cores, but have the bulk of their mass in an envelope consisting of an 'ice'-component, principally water. The total amount of free hydrogen in the planet cannot exceed approximately 1-2 earth masses. Measurements of the gravitational moments of Uranus are beginning to be accurate enough to constrain models, but are limited in utility by uncertainty in the rotation period. The outermost planetary layers have a gravitationally significant quantity of denser material ('ice'-component? ) in addition to hydrogen and helium.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 291-325 |
| Number of pages | 35 |
| Journal | NASA Conference Publication |
| State | Published - 1984 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aerospace Engineering