The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made stunning yearly observations of the Solar System's giant planets. A. Simon, M.H. Wong, and the OPAL team are pictured.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been on a tour of the outer Solar System. This is the realm of the giant planets, which extend as far as 30 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Unlike rocky planets like Earth and Mars that are close to the Sun's warmth, these far-flung worlds are mostly composed of cold gases.
The atmospheres of these four monster planets are constantly changing, despite the fact that robotic spacecraft have sent back snapshots of their visits to them over the past 50 years. Every time Hubble's cameras revisit these worlds, there are new surprises, offering fresh insights into their wild weather, driven by still largely unknown dynamics under the cloudtops.
Extreme and subtle changes are visible in Hubble's snapshots of the outer planets. Hubble's sharp view gives it insights into the fascinating, dynamic weather patterns and seasons on these gas giants and allows it to investigate the very similar, and very different, variables that contribute to their changing atmospheres.
Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere is tracked by Hubble's image of the planet in 2021, where several new storms are making their mark and the equator has changed color. A. Simon, M.H. Wong, and the OPAL team are pictured.
The planet Jupiter.
The Hubble observations of Jupiter show that the planet's atmosphere is constantly changing, with several new storms making their mark and the equator changing color.
The giant planet's atmosphere is on full display. The planet's equator is now a deep orange hue. Scientists were surprised to find a deeper orange in Hubble's recent images when they were expecting the equator to cloud up again.
Researchers note the appearance of several new storms just above the equator. These red cells can be defined as cyclonic vortices, which vary in appearance. Some of the storms are clearly defined, but others are fuzzy and hazy. The appearance of the clouds is caused by the physical properties.
The feature dubbed "Red Spot Jr." was also noted by researchers. The Great Red Spot, where Hubble discovered winds are speeding up, is just below the orange colored Oval BA, which is joined by several additional white, cyclonic storms to the south.
Hubble's view of Jupiter in 2020 was one of the most popular releases.
The new look at the planet shows a rapid and extreme colour change in the northern hemisphere, where it is now early autumn. A. Simon, M.H. Wong, and the OPAL team are pictured.
There is a planet called Saturn.
The new look at the planet shows rapid and extreme color changes in the northern hemisphere, where it is now early autumn. The bands have changed over time in Hubble observations. The south pole of the planet is visible in the Hubble image.
The bright northern polar hood of the planet is in the spotlight thanks to Hubble. A. Simon, M.H. Wong, and the OPAL team are pictured.
The planet Uranus.
The bright northern polar hood of Uranus is in the spotlight thanks to a Hubble view. The polar region seems to be getting brighter because of the increase in ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Researchers don't know why. It could be a change in the amount of methane in the atmosphere. The southernmost boundary remains at the same latitude even as the atmospheric hood gets brighter. Over the past several years, this has been the same. Maybe a jetstream is setting up a barrier at that latitude.
The dark spot on Neptune is still visible in this image, along with a dark northern hemisphere. A. Simon, M.H. Wong, and the OPAL team are pictured.
Neptune is a planet.
Researchers found that Neptune's dark spot, which was recently found to have reversed course from moving towards the equator, is still visible in this image. There is a dark circle surrounding Neptune's south pole. The absorption of red light by the methane-rich atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus causes the planets to have a blue color.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has completed its grand tour of the outer solar system, which includes Jupiter, Neptune, and other planets. Extreme and subtle changes are visible in Hubble's snapshots of the outer planets. Hubble's sharp view gives it insights into the fascinating, dynamic weather patterns and seasons on these gas giants and allows it to investigate the very different causes of their changing atmospheres. Credit: Amy Simon, Michael H. Wong, and Joseph DePasquale.
The Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy program takes yearly maps of the entire planet. The program provides yearly Hubble global views of the outer planets to look for changes in their storms, winds, and clouds.
Hubble takes a tour of the solar system in November of 2021.
The document is copyrighted. Any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research cannot be reproduced without written permission. The content is not intended to be used for anything other than information purposes.
