A new study on Neptune shows how the planet changed its atmosphere over time. Being one of the most mysterious and farthest planets in the solar system, Neptune added another puzzle that confused many experts.
Science Daily reports that Neptune dropped its atmospheric temperature over the past 20 years.
The discovery of Neptune's significant changes was identified by observing the planet's stratosphere. In this atmospheric region, which is just above the orb's surface, the planet was expected to have relatively stable conditions.
Neptune's Atmospheric Temperature
This is an artist's concept of the tiny moon Hippocamp discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2013. Only 20 miles across, it may be a broken-off fragment from a much larger neighboring moon, Proteus, seen as a smaller crescent in the upper right. This is the first evidence of a moon being an offshoot from a comet collision with a larger parent body.
Neptune was supposed to have rising temperatures due to the readings collected from the planet for the past two decades. The turbulent weather in the stratosphere was the key factor that led scientists to believe it would be hotter on the planet.
In addition, the southern hemisphere of Neptune showed characteristics of the season that astronomers suspected would result in a warm summer. Instead, the experts found that Neptune's heat decreased over time.
The new Neptune study was made possible through over 95 thermal infrared images collected from the planet. The data collection spanned from 2003 to 2020 with the help of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and other instruments based in Chile and Hawaii.
This latest investigation of Neptune's atmosphere is considered the most elaborate and comprehensive study of the planet's climate and temperature conditions.
University of Leicester expert and lead author of the study, Micahel Roman, explained that Neptune's atmosphere is more complicated than expected. This scenario seemingly teaches scientists again about the nature of these subjects once more.
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According to the paper, Neptune's stratosphere dropped its temperatures from 8 to minus 177 degrees Celsius in just 17 years of observation. The planet's temperature in its troposphere region, on the other hand, showed no significant changes over time. This area stayed as it is, with the cooler temperature that could reach minus 223 degrees Celsius.
Mysterious Neptune
Neptune is the planet with the most limited data up to date. Among the solar system's eight planets, the blue orb's location and distance from us make it challenging for experts and instruments to gather information.
Throughout the history of the astronomical field, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft was the only machine that reached Neptune, flying by near its vicinity back in 1989.
According to the study, Neptune's temperatures were unevenly distributed worldwide. Each region consists of variations unique from the rest. Moreover, the regions tend to shift between warmer and cooler temperatures in just a short period of time.
Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) expert and co-author of the study Glenn Orton said that Neptune's bizarre characteristics might offer us new insights in the future about the solar system's planets, as well as the bodies outside our neighborhood called the exoplanets.
The study was published in The Planetary Science Journal, titled "Subseasonal Variation in Neptune's Mid-infrared Emission."
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