The discovery was unexpected due to the icy giant's outermost position from the Sun and its minimal sunlight compared to Earth.
“Even four years later, the images we took this past June showed the clouds haven’t returned to their former levels. This is extremely exciting and unexpected, especially since Neptune’s previous period of low cloud activity was not nearly as dramatic and prolonged,” said Erandi Chavez, a graduate student at Harvard University’s Center for Astrophysics who led the study as an undergraduate astronomy student at UC Berkeley.
According to the statement, it was quite unexpected to discover this link given that the icy giant is the outermost planet from the Sun, receiving only a tiny fraction of the sunlight as compared to the Earth. For reference, Neptune is located at a huge distance of 2.8 billion miles from the star. The researchers established a clear connection between the prevalence of clouds on Neptune and the specific phase within the Sun's solar cycle. This correlation between the solar cycle and Neptune's cloud distribution was deduced from 2.5 solar cycles' worth of cloud activity data collected over a span of 29 years.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Neptune Is A Victim Of Sun’s Violent ‘Solar Maximum,’ Says New StudyPlanetary scientists have found a surprising link between Neptune and solar activity despite the ice giant planet being the solar system's farthest major planet.
Read more »
Neptune's clouds have vanished, and the sun may be to blame (video)After analyzing 30 years of data, scientists came to a surprising conclusion about an ice giant in our solar system.
Read more »
Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON)NOAA’s Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON) Program will develop future low Earth orbit (LEO) environmental satellites. Low and medium Earth observations.
Read more »
All of Neptune’s clouds have vanishedOver the past few years, the white clouds that usually shroud Neptune’s surface have disappeared, and it may be because of changes in the sun’s activity over its 11-year cycle
Read more »
After seventeen years, a spacecraft makes its first visit home -- ScienceDailyOn Aug. 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft will pass between the Sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with NASA missions near Earth and reveal new insights into our closest star.
Read more »
Time-lapse of Solar Cycle 25 displays increasing activity on the SunNOAA satellites capture activity on the Sun while NOAA forecasters issue alerts, watches and warnings and track solar events
Read more »