Very strange things on Neptune: a giant dark spot appeared on the planet

Miscellaneous / by admin / August 24, 2023

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Astronomers from the European Space Agency (ESA) told about the giant dark spot on Neptune. The diameter of this mysterious "hole" is about 10,000 kilometers.

The spot is not Neptune. Image: ESA

This phenomenon was known back in 1989, when it was captured by NASA's Voyager 2 probe. It soon became clear that it appears and disappears - this greatly complicates the study from space. But this time, for the first time, scientists were able to observe it from Earth. This was done thanks to the complex of optical telescopes VLT.

We know that these dark spots are anticyclonic eddies, like Jupiter's Great Red Spot, but how and why they form is still unclear. They seem to form randomly every few years at northern or southern latitudes, and then move towards the equator and eventually disappear - after about one Earth year.

Patrick Irwin

Professor from the University of Oxford (UK)

The great red spot of Jupiter, located in the southern part of the planet. Image: NASA

Interestingly, while astronomers were looking at an object through a telescope, a bright spot of a smaller size suddenly appeared next to it.

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In the process, we discovered a rare type of deep, bright cloud that we didn't know existed. Probably, it was their cluster that appeared next to the dark spot during our observations.

Michael Wong

Professor at the University of California at Berkeley (USA)

Due to the fact that the VLT is equipped with a multi-unit spectroscopic observer that screens out solar the light reflected by Neptune, scientists for the first time managed to consider the components of the color of the spot and measure its length waves. So they set the size of education.

Image: ESA

In addition, new data rule out the previous theory about the appearance of the spot in connection with the "clearing" of clouds. This is now believed to be the result of ice and haze mixing in the atmosphere, causing air particles to darken.