The storm is over 4,600 miles – wider than the Atlantic Ocean – and is formed in the northern reaches of Neptune. Hubble has been monitoring the storm since its discovery two years ago, and astronomers have seen the storm travel south near the Earth’s surface.
This is essentially a killing field, where hurricanes go to die on Neptune and disappear without a trace.
The turn suddenly turned north, However, Return to their original point in August 2020.
There have been four storms of Neptune – including a dark spot (such as the Great Red Spot on Jupiter) that Hubble has seen over the years. The storm follows a similar pattern of appearing and disappearing in two years.
Voyager 2 also showed glimpses of two hurricanes on Neptune during its 1989 planetary flyby – but they disappeared before Hubble followed them after launching in 1993.
What makes this whirlwind-like storm a showstopper is that astronomers have never seen a storm on a double back on Neptune.
Researchers also believe that the storm moved a part of itself into the process. In January, Hubble spotted a small dark spot called “Dark Spata Junior.” Which appears in front of a large dark space. (Yes, it’s all small).
The small dark spot was once part of a large storm that broke and stayed close before fleeing and disappearing.
The Hubble image was released on Tuesday and was presented during the American Geophysical Union Fall 2020 meeting, which was almost entirely due to the epidemic.
Michael H. Wong, a home scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement: “We are excited about these observations because this little dark part is probably part of the process of disrupting the dark space.
“This is a process that has never been observed. We have seen some other dark spots disappear, and they are gone, but we have never seen any disruption, although it is predicted in computer simulation. . “
Looking at the weather on Neptune
Pictures of Neptune returned by Voyager 2 and Hubble reveal that the ice giant is a bright blue, due to its atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and methane. But this is a dark, frozen world whose temperature is negative, negative breast temperature is negative 2 degrees Fahrenheit and screaming winds that send cold methane clouds across the planet at 1,200 miles per hour.
It is the farthest planet in our solar system, 30 times the father of the Sun than the Earth – and this distance appears on Neptune at noon as it does on Earth.
The Great Dark Spot on Neptune, as seen by Voyager 2, was so large that it could include Earth.
Researchers who don’t understand much about how these big storms form are able to study this dark space in more detail than previous storms.
These storms on Neptune behave differently from hurricanes on Earth. Dark spots are high-pressure systems that start steadily and rotate around the clock, while storms on Earth are low-pressure systems that rotate around the clock.
But that stability is broken when a storm hits near the equator of Neptune – leaving a fresh dark spot.
“It was really interesting to see an actor as it should work and then all of a sudden the bus stops and comes back,” Wong said. “It was amazing.”
When the reverse happened, Dark Spot Juni. It turned out that the piece was still quite large, measuring 3,900 miles.
However, the timing of the emergence of the small space was unusual.
“When I first saw the small space, I thought the big one was getting in the way,” Wong said. “I don’t think another bhundar is forming because the smaller one is closer to the equator. So it’s in this unstable area. But we can’t prove that the two are connected. It’s a complete mystery. Is.
“It was also in January that a dark thunderstorm stopped its movement and began to turn north,” Wong added. “Probably throwing that piece away was enough to stop it from going to the Mediterranean.”
While the dark spot is June. Disappeared, researchers are looking for any survivors of the small storm.
Hubble monitors more distant planets in our solar system through our outer planet Atomosphere Legacy program. This long-term program monitors the outer planets of our solar system when they are closest to Earth each year.
By comparing the views of these planets each year, scientists can track events such as storms and climate change.
Amy Simon, lead investigator of Apple’s programs, said: “If we didn’t know anything about these latest dark places, it wouldn’t be Hubble. At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“We can now observe the Big Storm for years and see its full life cycle. If we didn’t have Hubble, we might think that the great dark spot seen by Weiser in 1989 is still Neptune.” And, like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot … and, we don’t know about the other four spots that Hubble found. ”
