The true colors of Uranus and Neptune |
The true colors of Uranus and Neptune |
Jan 5 2024, 09:58 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 241 Joined: 16-May 06 From: Geneva, Switzerland Member No.: 773 |
An interesting new study reveals the true colors of ice giants. It appears that Neptune’s true color is a pale greenish-blue similar to that of Uranus, contrary to popular images that show it to be a much deeper shade of blue. Uranus is slightly whiter. Ultimately, Neptune has a thinner layer of haze, allowing more sunlight to reach deeper in the atmosphere. At such depth, it can be absorbed by methane gas, which soaks up red light – making the planet appear ever so slightly more blue. The presence of amassed methane ice particles may also explain why Uranus changes its color slightly during its 84-year orbit around the sun.
https://www.space.com/uranus-neptune-simila...oyager-2-images Best wishes for 2024 Marc PS: See also: https://theconversation.com/how-we-discover...n-colour-220244 |
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Jan 6 2024, 12:00 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2090 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
It's a question of aesthetics, as well, for whatever a planetary image is being used to illustrate. Attracting eyeballs can be the top priority for the cover of a children's book, or magazine cover, for example!
I'm sure we've all seen the Magellan radar view of Venus (under the clouds) depicted in various collages and pop culture usage, since it's much more striking than the almost featureless cloud tops that the planet 'really' looks like. Similarly, the 'rainbow Mercury' from Messenger data I've seen pop up the past decade is bound to be confusing (did the planet fly through the tail of a glitter comet?), but it certainly looks more exciting than the real grey, (or even the yellow Mariner 10 version images that was in all the textbooks for decades). I too knew that Neptune wasn't really that dark, but hey, on the upside, Earth's blue will never be matched by anything in our solar system! |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 6th June 2024 - 04:06 AM |
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