NASA's Hubble Telescope , in orbit around the Earth, recently spotted a new mysterious dark storm on Neptune and also provided a fresh look at a big white storm that's circling around the north pole on Uranus.
The summer season on Uranus lasts for 21 years. The planet was named for the Greek god of the sky. As for the Neptune storm, it's a whopping 6, miles across, more than twice the size of the United States. Seasons on Neptune last for over 40 years, and it's now winter in its northern hemisphere. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space.
Elizabeth Howell is a contributing writer for Space. She is the author or co-author of several books on space exploration. Elizabeth holds a Ph. She also holds a bachelor of journalism degree from Carleton University in Canada, where she began her space-writing career in Besides writing, Elizabeth teaches communications at the university and community college level, and for government training schools.
In Uranus reached it's equinox, with the equator pointing at the sun and each of the two hemispheres illuminated. The group observed Uranus with the Keck telescope as it past equinox seven years ago. They expected to see storm activity, as parts of the planet that haven't seen the sun in 20 years started to come to light.
They thought it has gone quiet again, which is why 's storms took them by surprise. Added to this is the fact the storms are flaring up in the Northern hemisphere, the part of Uranus that is entering its spring, and thought not to have warmed up from its prolonged winter yet. Where is the energy to drive these storms coming from? That's the mystery. Storms on the other gas giants are thought to be fed by energy from their dynamic interiors.
Voyager 2 saw that Uranus should have a dynamic interior it has an active magnetic field like Neptune but that little of this energy is reaching the atmosphere. What this observation of these giant storms really does highlight, is just how little we know about our solar system's giant icy planets Uranus, and its neighbour Neptune. In the light of the fact that missions like Kepler are finding many other similar planets orbiting distant stars, we really need to sort this out.
Hopefully knowing more about our 'local' planets will mean that we can understand much more about those further away. Meanwhile, while we in Australia may have past our summer — think of the Southern hemisphere of Uranus where a year winter is coming….
Explore further. More from Astronomy and Astrophysics. Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. For general feedback, use the public comments section below please adhere to guidelines. Your feedback is important to us.
However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages. Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose.
The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. Although Uranus has been observed for more than years, "no one has ever seen this view in the modern era of astronomy because of the long year of Uranus - more than 84 Earth years," said Dr.
Heidi Hammel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The seasonal changes on Earth are caused by our planet's rotational pole being slightly tilted. Consequently, the Earth's Southern and Northern hemispheres are alternately tipped toward or away from the Sun as the Earth moves around its orbit. Uranus is tilted completely over on its side, giving rise to extreme year-long seasons and unusual weather. For nearly a quarter of the Uranian year, the sun shines directly over each pole, leaving the other half of the planet plunged into a long, dark, frigid winter.
The Northern Hemisphere of Uranus is just now coming out of the grip of its decades-long winter.
0コメント