Clouds mark change in seasons on Neptune
Posted: Tue, May 20, 2003, 10:32 AM ET (1432 GMT)
Planetary scientists have spotted a change in cloud patterns on Neptune that they believe is linked to changing seasons on the distant planet. Hubble observations of Neptune over the last six years have shown that the planet has progressively brightened because of an increase in banded cloud formations in the planet's southern hemisphere. The seasonal change is somewhat surprising because the planet is thirty times farther from the Sun than the Earth, and thus receives 1/900th the radiant energy; that energy drives the weather patterns on Earth and presumably Neptune as well. While the planet also has an internal source of energy, the combination is still too small to adequately describe the dynamics of Neptune's atmosphere, according to University of Wisconsin scientists
Planetary scientists have spotted a change in cloud patterns on Neptune that they believe is linked to changing seasons on the distant planet. Hubble observations of Neptune over the last six years have shown that the planet has progressively brightened because of an increase in banded cloud formations in the planet's southern hemisphere. The seasonal change is somewhat surprising because the planet is thirty times farther from the Sun than the Earth, and thus receives 1/900th the radiant energy; that energy drives the weather patterns on Earth and presumably Neptune as well. While the planet also has an internal source of energy, the combination is still too small to adequately describe the dynamics of Neptune's atmosphere, according to University of Wisconsin scientists
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, April 20
Space ISAC Announces UK Global Hub During 40th Annual Space Symposium
Space ISAC — 11:22 am ET (1522 GMT) Outpost Awarded DAF Contract for the AFRL Rocket Cargo Vanguard Program to Advance Deployable Heat Shield Technology for Shipping Container Size Deliveries from Space
Business Wire — 11:18 am ET (1518 GMT) With NASA's Webb, Dying Star's Energetic Display Comes Into Full Focus
STScI — 11:16 am ET (1516 GMT) AIAA Statement on Blue Origin’s Successful NS-31 Mission
AIAA — 11:13 am ET (1513 GMT) Evidence of Dark Matter-Free Dwarf Galaxy Challenges Conventional Galaxy Formation Models
Keck Observatory — 11:13 am ET (1513 GMT) |
