A giant vortex on the planet Neptune has been confirmed by NASA – Maxisciences

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Neptune is known to have giant vortex on its surface. Can detect clouds clear amassed around, amateur and professional astronomers have suspected the presence of a vortex in 2015. However, only the Hubble telescope can actually see, he has done May 16, 2016.

the gas giant has been almost a year a task that has just been explained by NASA. In 2015, amateurs and professionals detect in effect at the surface of Neptune an area where many bright clouds gathered. A clue to them the presence of a dark vortex below.

Neptune, extreme weather

In fact, these bright clouds resemble previously observed by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1989 and the Hubble telescope in 1994. astrophysicists discover hoped therefore a vortex below. However, only the Hubble telescope is able to detect as they are visible only to blue wavelengths which requires great precision. New images obtained on May 16 have provided evidence of the existence of the vortex.

Mike Wong, an astrophysicist at Berkeley in the team in charge of analyzing Hubble images described: “ the dark vortex through the atmosphere like huge mountains like a soft lens and. clouds that accompany it are similar to those shaped pancake that appear persistently below the terrestrial mountains . “

mysterious vortex

the vortices are meteorological phenomena caused by high pressure. The gases which pass through are ejected into the upper atmosphere to cool and freeze. This will create clear these clouds formed from methane crystals detectable from Earth. However, the reasons for their training and their evolution remain unknown to date. In addition, each observed vortex is very different from another which greatly complicates the task of astrophysicists.

The study of this new vortex will perhaps allow researchers to better understand their origins, oscillations, their derivatives and their dead. Hubble still allows astronomers to study the universe. Launched in 1990, its mission has been increased by a further five years, which will finally do run along his successor.