Uranus really does smell like farts after all
Newsflash: Uranus stinks!
The seventh planet from the sun — and the butt of all cosmic fart jokes — actually does smell like flatulence, according to a new study from the University of Oxford.
The space rock’s upper atmosphere is made up of hydrogen sulfide, the compound that creates the smell of rotten eggs — and human farts — according to the research published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
“If an unfortunate human were ever to descend through Uranus’s clouds, they would be met with very unpleasant and odiferous conditions,” Patrick Irwin, an Oxford physicist who led the study, said in a statement.
But thankfully humans will likely never catch a whiff of the gassy planet.
“Suffocation and exposure in the -200 degrees Celsius atmosphere made of mostly hydrogen, helium, and methane would take its toll long before the smell,” Irwin pointed out.
To sniff out the discovery, scientists used a high-tech 8-meter telescope to take a peek at light bouncing off Uranus.
Researchers determined a layer of clouds above the planet were hydrogen-sulfide molecules based on wavelengths of light — much to the delight of Twitter users, who called the fart-centric discovery a gas.
“Oh my god… WHAT!!! Every joke about this planet was true. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! LOL!!!” tweeted one twitter user @romelojames.
Deborah Netburn, an L.A. based science writer added, “Thank you, universe, for this cosmic fart joke.”