Voyager 2 has been flying past Neptune since then In 1989,The giant dark smudges in the atmosphere of a distant planet have created a puzzle.
We have now observed it for the first with Earth-based instrumentation in unprecedented resolution. This will help scientists understand why these patches are so dark, and why they differ from other spots on planets.
Since the first time I saw a dark spot on the ground, I have always wondered what those short-lived dark features were. Patrick Irwin, astronomerThe University of Oxford, UK
“I was absolutely delighted to be able not only to make the first detection from the earth of a black spot, but to also record for first time the reflection spectrum.”
Neptune’s dark The vorticesWhat is actually happening? AnticyclonicStorms are similar to the Great Red Spot On JupiterThey differ in many key and mysterious ways. One thing is that they are relatively short-lived. They appear and disappear every few decades.
In comparison to the storm vortices, they are believed to have relatively little cloud in their center. SaturnYou can also find out more about the following: Jupiter. We can see white fluffy clouds at the edges. These are probably caused by gasses that freeze into ice crystals of methane as they rise from lower elevations.
Neptune’s distance from Earth and the nature of vortices that are only temporary have made it difficult to discover more. Hubble Space Telescope is the only instrument that can observe and track them since 1994. This limits the wavelengths at which the planet may be observed.
Irwin, his team and the Very Large Telescope Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer were able to use another instrument when a large vortex formed in 2018.MUSE). MUSE was capable of detecting the sunlight reflected off Neptune. It then split the wavelengths into their constituent parts to create a 3D spectrum.
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The researchers could determine the altitude because different wavelengths correspond to different altitudes of Neptune’s atmospheric layer. The researchers found that the dark spot was not a “hole” at all.
It is more likely that the darker color is the result of particles darkening within the layer below Neptune’s top layer. Aerosol haze. Researchers believe this could be due to local heating of the anticyclonic vortex’s deepest part, which vaporizes hydrogen sulfide, revealing a darker core. Researchers’ observations are in line with particles becoming smaller and less opaque.
Another surprise was also found: a bright, white cloud that accompanied the vortex. This cloud was different from the usual methane clouds that accompany Neptune vortices. It was not higher up in the atmosphere but seemed to be the same height as the dark vortex.
Further investigation is needed to determine what this is and whether the team’s suggested mechanisms for Neptune’s atmospheric darkening are accurate. We are now much closer to finding answers, thanks to the ground-based observations we can make of Neptune.
It is a remarkable increase in our ability to observe cosmos.” Michael Wong, astronomerBerkeley, University of California
“At the beginning, we were only able to detect these spots if we sent a spacecraft like Voyager there. Hubble gave us the capability to see them remotely. “Technology has improved to the point that we can do this remotely.”
The research was published in Nature Astronomy.
