In news of high-energy results of a planetary variety, we have results from the Chandra X-ray observatory showing for the first time that Uranus is subject to X-rays from the Sun, and even at its great distance, it can reflect those X-rays back to us in detectable numbers. A new image shows a Chandra X-ray image of Uranus from 2002 (in pink) superimposed on an optical image from the Keck-I Telescope in Hawaii. 

This work is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics and in addition to explaining how these X-rays should largely originate from the scatter of solar X-ray light (something we see at Jupiter and Saturn), some may also come from aurorae as we have here on Earth. Charged particles hitting the rings could also produce additional X-rays, as we see at Saturn. Bottom line: while every planet is different, the science that describes them works by the same rules, and Uranus behaves nicely like its siblings.

More Information

Chandra press release

“A Low Signal Detection of X‐Rays From Uranus,” W. R. Dunn et al., 2021 March 31, JGR: Space Physics