Neptune’s Temperature is Behaving Strangely

Data collected decades ago is still valid and can help scientists spot trends that would otherwise be lost in the flurry of new data they are trying to collect.

It would help to understand Neptune's weather, because it also has seasons.

Scientists didn't expect to see much change in the temperature of Neptune's atmosphere over the course of 20 years, but they did.

All of the data from the observatory over the course of two decades showed the same cooling trend, which confused scientists who had expected to see general warming due to the beginning.

The two-year jump in southern polar temperatures was more rapid than the researchers were expecting.

Scientists are still trying to understand the two trends, and their best guess is that the seasonal changes throughout the southern summer might affect the planet's atmospheric chemistry, which would then also affect how it cools or warm.

There are always old data sets to look over, but there are also new ones to get excited about.

You can learn more.

The study shows that Neptune is cooler than we thought.

Roman et al. describe the seasonal variation in Neptune's mid-infrared emission.

What is the surface temperature of Neptune?

The South Pole is the warmest place on the planet.