Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → News

Astronomers find why Uranus and Neptune are different colors

The two worlds would have looked the same were it not for an extra coat of haze on Uranus.

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
June 1, 2022
in News, Space
Left: Hubble’s 25 October 2021 view of Uranus puts the planet’s bright northern polar hood in the spotlight.  Right: Hubble’s 7 September 2021 view of Neptune features the planet’s dark spot and darkened northern hemisphere. Credit: NASA.

The ice giants Uranus and Neptune are, in many ways, like twins. They’re just about the same hefty size, roughly four times the size of Earth and 15 times its mass. Both have similar daily rotations of slightly less than 17 hours. And close to their superheated cores, it may even rain diamonds.

But despite these similarities, Neptune is dressed in a vibrant deep blue, whereas Uranus is pale blue with a tint of green. Observations performed by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the Gemini North telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, may finally explain why the two siblings look so different.

Using data gathered from these observations, astronomers pieced together a single atmospheric model for both worlds. This model showed that excess haze builds up in Uranus’ atmosphere, explaining why it appears to be a lighter tone than Neptune.

“This is the first model to simultaneously fit observations of reflected sunlight from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths,” Patrick Irwin, Professor of Planetary Physics at Oxford University and lead author of the new study, said in a statement. “It’s also the first to explain the difference in visible color between Uranus and Neptune.”

Both are blue due to the heavy concentration of methane in their atmospheres, a greenhouse gas that absorbs the color red from the spectrum of light and scatters blue light. However, the middle layer of Uranus’ atmosphere, which is made up of haze particles, is twice as thick as that of Neptune’s. If there was no haze in the atmospheres of the two icy worlds, both would appear almost equally blue.

This haze, caused by fine suspended particles, known as aerosols, is whitish in appearance, which explains why Uranus looks paler than Neptune.

On both worlds, methane ice condenses pulling haze particles with them in a shower of methane snow. Neptune has a more turbulent atmosphere than Uranus does, making the former more efficient at producing methane snow. In time, Neptune’s haze layer thinned, resulting in its clearer blue color.

“We hoped that developing this model would help us understand clouds and hazes in the ice giant atmospheres,” commented Mike Wong, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the team behind this result. “Explaining the difference in color between Uranus and Neptune was an unexpected bonus!”

But why the thicker haze in the first place? Writing in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the authors note that the extra haze on Uranus could be explained by an ancient impact with a giant cosmic body, expending a significant portion of the planet’s internal energy and heat sources. The impact would have made Uranus’ atmosphere more sluggish, resulting in less methane snow.

Not everyone is convinced by this explanation, though. Speaking to the NY Times, Erich Karkoschka, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, suggests that a more plausible explanation is that the two worlds may simply be physically different. The two worlds aren’t exactly twins, after all, despite their many similarities.

We should learn more about how the worlds both differ and are alike once a new orbiter reaches the outer planets, which NASA hopes to launch in the 2030s. In the meantime, the newly operational mighty James Webb Telescope could reveal new secrets about the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. 

Was this helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Related posts:
  1. Diamond rain of Neptune and Uranus mimicked in the lab by scientists
  2. Astronomers discover Neptune’s Hippocamp
  3. Astronomers may have just discovered two new moons around Uranus
  4. Astronomers measure frigid temperature of Uranus’ rings
  5. Astronomers luckily spot Aurora on Uranus

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW