{"id":34334,"date":"2022-07-29T07:34:51","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T07:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=110559"},"modified":"2022-07-29T08:08:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T08:08:09","slug":"astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers discover why Uranus and Neptune are different colours"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune are remarkably similar in composition, consisting of mostly hydrogen, with some helium and a little methane, which gives them both their blue colour.<\/p>\n

Yet despite this, the two ice giant planets are noticeably different in hue, with Neptune<\/a> a deep royal blue while Uranus<\/a> is a pale turquoise.<\/p>\n

Indeed, images captured during the Voyager mission<\/a> and by the Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> \u2013 among others \u2013 have revealed the different azures of both planets in remarkable clarity over the years.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A dark storm spotted on Neptune by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and L.A. Sromovsky and P.M. Fry (University of Wisconsin-Madison)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

After years of wondering what could be causing the difference in colour between Uranus and Neptune<\/a>, a new set of observations from the Gemini Observatory might finally explain it.<\/p>\n

By looking at the planets in many wavelengths, astronomers were able to observe the different layers of the Uranus and Neptune\u2019s atmospheres.<\/p>\n

Both are covered by a layer of haze, which the new study found extends much deeper than previously thought.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
An image of Uranus captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The study also showed that Uranus\u2019s haze is much thicker than Neptune\u2019s, effectively whitening the planet and making it appear paler.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hoped that developing this model would help us understand clouds and hazes in the ice giant atmospheres,\u201d commented Mike Wong from the University of California, who took part in the study.<\/p>\n

\u201cExplaining the difference in colour between Uranus and Neptune was an unexpected bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

www.gemini.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Ezzy Pearson Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am The atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune are remarkably similar in composition, consisting of mostly hydrogen, with some helium and a little methane, which gives them both their blue colour. Yet despite this, the two ice giant planets are noticeably different in hue, with Neptune […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":34335,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/07\/astronomers-discover-why-uranus-and-neptune-are-different-colours.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Ezzy Pearson Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am The atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune are remarkably similar in composition, consisting of mostly hydrogen, with some helium and a little methane, which gives them both their blue colour. Yet despite this, the two ice giant planets are noticeably different in hue, with Neptune…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/34334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}