New research reveals that the true colors of Neptune and Uranus are very similar, challenging previous beliefs that they are very different.
NASA’s Voyager 2 mission, which made flybys of Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989, provided the first detailed images of these two icy giants in our solar system.
Voyager 2 is unique in that it is the only spacecraft that has ever approached both planets.
In the captured image, Uranus appears in a pale cyan color, while Neptune displays a striking dark blue hue.
As reported Financial Expressthe spacecraft captured separate color images of each planet, and the researchers combined these single-color images to create a composite.
The image of Neptune was enhanced to reveal white clouds and winds in the planet’s atmosphere.
The study’s lead author from Oxford University, Professor Patrick Irwin, shares his insights.
“Uranus still looks bland and a bit boring, but Neptune also looks quite faded when you do a full true color reconstruction,” he said.
The ice giant’s color has long been linked to the presence of methane in its atmosphere, where it absorbs green and red light.
Previous research showed that Neptune appears slightly bluer than Uranus due to the greater transparency of aerosols in one layer of its atmosphere.
However, new research challenges this assumption by reviewing images created from data collected during Voyager 2’s flyby in the 1980s.
It turns out that Neptune’s dark blue appearance in the image is the result of increasing contrast to highlight fainter features.
Professor Irwin emphasized, “By applying our model to the original data, we have been able to reconstruct the most accurate representation of the colors of Neptune and Uranus.”
This revelation highlights the importance of revisiting and reinterpreting existing data to refine our understanding of celestial bodies in our solar system.
2024-01-05 23:02:00
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