The ‘ice giant’ in our solar system has taken a surprising turn leaving many to wonder. Astronomers announced an unexpected update about Neptune. The clouds of Neptune seem to have disappeared according to their observations. A gradual fading of the clouds has now led to the clouds totally vanishing! Let’s dive in to know more about how it happened and what could this mean about our sun.
Astronomers have been constantly observing our planets and the solar system as a whole. Their new analysis of Neptune came as a result of observations done for 30 years! Astronomers have observed the images taken of the ice giant between 1994 and 2022. Since 2019, they have noticed certain changes. They observed fading of the clouds. However, all evidence of clouds seemed to have now totally vanished!
“I was surprised by how quickly clouds disappeared on Neptune,” professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley and senior author of a study on the findings, Imke de Pater said in a statement.
This is mainly due to changes in the solar cycle, according to the study experts. Our star’s magnetic fields have been changing for over 11 years. Our Sun is an ocean made of charged particles with a shape of an orb. This ocean of charged particles known as ‘plasma‘ can flow around and mold over time. So, the magnetic field which is linked with the charged particles can also change with time.
Image Source: Space.com
Such changes in the magnetic field can lead to magnetic-field knots and some intense solar flares. It can also release some powerful radiation into space. This is basically something like a mood swing that our sun is having. So even in another 11 or so years, there is a chance that we might see a few more changes.
Image Source: Phys.org
Conclusion
The ‘ice giant’ in our solar system has taken a surprising turn leaving many to wonder. The clouds of Neptune seem to have disappeared according to their observations. A gradual fading of the clouds has now led to the clouds totally vanishing! This is mainly due to changes in the solar cycle, according to the study experts. Our star’s magnetic fields have been changing for over 11 years!
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