Astronomers have discovered a perplexing trend in Neptune’s atmosphere: Ever since the planet’s southern hemisphere summer began almost two decades ago, atmospheric temperatures in this region have plummeted, and scientists aren’t sure why.
Neptune is the most distant planet in the solar system, around 30 times farther from the sun than Earth is. Just like every other planet orbiting the sun, Neptune has four distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. However, because Neptune takes around 165 years to orbit the sun, each of these seasons lasts around 40 years. Neptune’s southern hemisphere has been experiencing summer, the period when it is tilted toward the sun, since 2005.
In a new study, researchers compiled infrared images of Neptune taken by a variety of ground and space based telescopes between 2003 and 2020. The team initially expected that temperatures in Neptune’s southern hemisphere would increase as it entered summer. However, the images revealed that atmospheric temperatures in the southern hemisphere had dropped by 14.4 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) between 2003 and 2018.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
