Uranus and Neptune could contain rocks

Uranus and Neptune. File: Love The Night Sky 

Institute for Space Research was motivated to observe Neptune and Uranus more closely due to recent studies indicating that bodies in the trans-Neptunian area, an icy zone past Neptune, are rockier than previously thought, space.com reports. Researchers of the new study clarified that earlier research has indicated that objects such as Pluto, comets, and Kuiper belt bodies do possess rocky atmospheres. So, if those objects consist mainly of rocks, Uranus and Neptune may too. 

To reach their conclusions, the researchers simulated the composition of Uranus and Neptune. They started modeling the planets' envelopes (inner and outer atmosphere together), as well as their mantles and cores. Considering factors such as temperature in each planet's atmospheric layers, the team discovered that these conditions would lead to the formation of silicate clouds in specific regions of these atmospheres turning into solid rock.

Therefore, although Uranus and Neptune are categorized as ice giants and orbit at a great distance from the sun in the solar system's outer areas, they also possess more rocky characteristics than one might anticipate from an "ice" planet. This research has the potential to show that our perception of these two planets is completely wrong.