Mystery of Neptune dark spot solved. New white spot found

 



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Scientists on the European Southern Observatory (ESO) mentioned in the present day (August 24, 2023), that they’ve now caught sight of a brand new mysterious darkish spot on Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun in our solar system. Plus it has an sudden smaller vivid spot adjoining to it. They usually didn’t should ship up a spacecraft – or a space telescope – to see these spots on Neptune.

Probably the most well-known Neptune darkish spot was noticed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, throughout its historic sweep previous Neptune in 1989. Neptune’s Great Dark Spot, because it was referred to as, lasted solely about two years. That’s in distinction to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, which we’ve seen for hundreds of years.

And, additionally in contrast to the Crimson Spot, scientists thought Neptune’s Darkish Spot middle was largely cloud-free. However the brand new observations – from the scientists at ESO – recommend that’s not the case.

Patrick Irwin, professor on the College of Oxford, led the invention staff. They used ESO’s Very Massive Telescope (VLT) in Chile to watch Neptune. That makes these new Neptune spots the primary to be confirmed from Earth. Irwin shared his pleasure, saying:

For the reason that first discovery of a darkish spot, I’ve all the time puzzled what these short-lived and elusive darkish options are.

Irwin and staff published the outcomes of their research within the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy on August 24, 2023.

Mysterious Neptune darkish spot

So are these darkish spots on Neptune actually a clearing of clouds? Not in accordance with the information from the VLT. Because the astronomers’ statement mentioned:

The brand new observations point out as an alternative that darkish spots are seemingly the results of air particles darkening in a layer beneath the principle seen haze layer, as ices and hazes combine in Neptune’s ambiance.

Astronomers took step one towards this resolution in 2018, when the Hubble Space Telescope noticed darkish spots on Neptune, together with on within the northern hemisphere. Irwin and staff then used the VLT’s Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) to take a more in-depth look.

With MUSE, the staff was ready to take a look at the spectrum, or a extra full have a look at the wavelengths of sunshine from Neptune. As Irwin mentioned:

I’m completely thrilled to have been capable of not solely make the primary detection of a darkish spot from the bottom, but additionally document for the very first time a reflection spectrum of such a characteristic.

Trying on the spectrum allowed the astronomers to the place, within the depths of Neptune’s ambiance, the darkish spot resided. The data from the spectrum additionally gave astronomers the chemical composition of the totally different layers of the ambiance. And this, in flip, helped them perceive why the spot is darkish.

A better have a look at Neptune’s darkish spot

View larger. | The MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Massive Telescope (VLT) captured these photos of a storm on Neptune. These photos present totally different wavelengths of sunshine: 551 nanometers (blue), 831 nm (inexperienced), and 848 nm (purple). Plus the 4th picture is the pure colours. Observe the mysterious darkish spot on Neptune, which is most outstanding at shorter (bluer) wavelengths. Close by is a small vivid spot, deep within the ambiance. Astronomers had by no means earlier than recognized one of these deep vivid cloud on the planet. The pictures additionally present a number of different shallower vivid spots at longer wavelengths towards the bottom-left fringe of Neptune. Picture by way of ESO/ P. Irwin et al.

A vivid white spot

Together with observations of the darkish spot, astronomers additionally discovered a vivid white spot close by in 831 nm (inexperienced) picture. This reveals a deep stage of ambiance on Neptune, on the similar stage because the darkish spot. Subsequently, it’s totally different from the companion high-altitude clouds of methane ice that earlier photos discovered. Co-author Michael Wong, of the College of California, Berkeley, talked concerning the staff’s potential to seek out this vivid cloud utilizing devices on Earth:

Within the course of we found a uncommon deep vivid cloud kind that had by no means been recognized earlier than, even from space.

That is an astounding improve in humanity’s potential to watch the cosmos. At first, we might solely detect these spots by sending a spacecraft there, like Voyager. Then we gained the flexibility to make them out remotely with Hubble. Lastly, know-how has superior to allow this from the bottom.

Then, Wong joked:

This might put me out of labor as a Hubble observer!

Backside line: Astronomers have noticed a darkish spot on Neptune from Earth-based observatories. Viewing its spectrum, the found that it’s air particles darkening in a layer beneath the principle seen haze layer. Close by, the additionally noticed a vivid white spot.

Source: Cloud Structure of Dark Spots and Storms in Neptune’s Atmosphere

Via ESO

Kelly Kizer Whitt

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Concerning the Writer:

Kelly Kizer Whitt has been a science author specializing in astronomy for greater than twenty years. She started her profession at Astronomy Journal, and she or he has made common contributions to AstronomyToday and the Sierra Membership, amongst different shops. Her kids’s image guide, Photo voltaic System Forecast, was revealed in 2012. She has additionally written a younger grownup dystopian novel titled A Totally different Sky. When she will not be studying or writing about astronomy and staring up on the stars, she enjoys touring to the nationwide parks, creating crossword puzzles, working, tennis, and paddleboarding. Kelly lives in Wisconsin.

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