These storms usually appear in mid-latitudes and drift toward the planet’s equator, where they weaken and then disintegrate. In 2018, Hubble detected a large dark spot drifting south toward the tropical “kill zone,” in Neptune’s northern hemisphere.
However, two years later, to the surprise of astronomers and computer simulations, the storm reversed course and returned north. Moreover, the reversal coincided with the appearance A new, slightly smaller storm called “Dark Spot Jr.” In the south – a larger piece of the vortex may have broken off, robbing it of energy and momentum as in some cosmic pool games.
“It’s great to see this guy act like he’s supposed to, and then suddenly stop and swing backwards,” said Michael Wong, a research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. In a press release from NASA last year. “That’s surprising.”
In the latest images of Neptune, the large black spot is still to the north. But Junior had disappeared, and the entire Arctic region had gone dark. Neptune’s meteorologists still don’t know why.
Enjoy this cosmic postcard as long as possible. The Hubble Space Telescope is There for more than 30 yearsAfter a long planned operational life, it has faced more frequent problems recently. three This time of year, the telescope experienced an extended shutdown due to a software issue.
But there is a possibility of good news coming with the scheduled launch James Webb Space Telescope in December. The Webb telescope is Almost three times bigger than Hubble. It is designed to see infrared or “thermal” light rather than visible wavelengths, so it can see through the clouds and fog of these planets and map the heat below, emitting light, so to speak, of how these planets function. Anyway for the time being, if all goes well – and Things don’t always go well Astronomers can have two complementary ways of understanding what’s going on there.
This is a weather report from an exoplanet. It’s windy out there, and don’t forget to put on the strongest sunscreen on Uranus.
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