Posted on 05/31/2022 1:16:59 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The most distant planets from the sun in our solar system, Neptune and Uranus have similar sizes, masses and atmospheric conditions. Looking at the the two planets side by side, which was made possible after NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by them in the 1980s, Neptune has a bright blue appearance. Uranus is a paler shade of cyan blue.
Astronomers used the Gemini North telescope and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, both in Hawaii, and the Hubble Space Telescope to create a model that could match up observations of Neptune and Uranus.
The scientists determined that an excess of haze builds up in Uranus' atmosphere, which gives it a lighter appearance. This haze is thicker on Uranus than a similar atmospheric layer on Neptune, so it whitens the appearance of Uranus from our perspective.
Without this haze in either planetary atmosphere, astronomers believe both planets would be almost identically blue. A study detailing the findings published Tuesday in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
New observations from the Gemini North telescope, located near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, were paired with other archival telescope data. The team analyzed three layers of aerosols at different heights on Uranus and Neptune. The middle layer of haze particles is what impacts the color the most.
On both planets, the middle layer is where methane ice turns into methane snow showers. Neptune has a turbulent atmosphere that is more active than Uranus' slow, sluggish one, so the methane particles and snow showers prevent a haze from building up on Neptune.
Scientists believe this model could also help explain why dark spots appear on Neptune, but are less common on Uranus. It's likely due to the fact that the deepest atmospheric layer darkens, which would be more visible on Neptune.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Could be caused by a blue slushy.
can we just send all the libs to Uranus?
The broke back mountain types flock to Uranus and they are noisy about it.
The straights have Neptune. Shhhh, don't tell the leftists because they will try to do immoral sex acts on every rock.
Someone is trolling Uranians. It is bad enough the were invaded.
And Steve Vai on guitar.
I figured it probably was - thanks for checking my butt CNN 🤪
Oh dear
...or outside, maybe.
Thanks.
I miss Frank.
L
I’m just here for laughs...
Other than sophomoric “humor”, what reason could a bastion of scientific knowledge like CNN possibly have for reporting this story?
$$$
A headline like that is surely clickbait.
Nope, not me. Too easy.
I think bored NASA astronomers do it to themselves just on bets to see how often they can get ‘Uranus’ in print. They probably play drinking games over who can get the next public release published.
Neptune is more blue because it's further from the earth, so it receives less Chuck Berry.
Neptune has an axis tilt of 28 degrees (similar to Earth’s 23 degrees) with most of the planet getting sunlight during its 16-hour days.
Uranus (with a 17-hour day) has an axis tilt of 82 degrees, so that one hemisphere essential faces the sun during its 21-year summer (out of its 84-year orbit around the sun), before it eventually is facing away from the sun during its 21-year winter.
This might contribute to the different shade of color observed.
Don’t need NASA to explain that one.
I was fortunate enough to see Frank live 5 times. I never missed a show when he was in Chicago.
L
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