there is a giant vortex on uranus

Uranus continues to intrigue.

Scientists peered deep into a curious ice giant planet that is essentially spinning on its side, and captured evidence of a strongly rotating cyclone at its north pole.

“These observations tell us a lot about the story of Uranus. It’s a more dynamic world than you might think.” NASA radio astronomer alex akins said in a statement, “It’s not a plain blue ball of gas. There’s a lot going on under the hood.”

findings suggest that all our planets Solar system They share a similar property with the atmosphere: they have vortices rotating around their poles. Parts of Earth’s northern polar vortex can infuriate extremely cold winter events in the Americas, Europe and beyond.

“It’s not a plain blue ball of gas. There’s a lot going on under the hood.”

The evidence for rotating cyclones on Uranus was made possible by repeated observations of the gaseous world’s cloud tops. Astronomers used radio telescopes, notably the Very Large Array in New Mexico (made famous in the film Contact) to see the wind swirling beneath the high atmosphere of Uranus. (Radio telescopes see a different type of light than visible light telescopes like Hubble.) The researchers looked at the distinctively warm and dry cyclonic winds.

Uranus is in our solar system, but it’s still about 1.8 billion miles away. It is quite a mysterious place.

NASA’s Akins said, “The fact that we’re still figuring out such simple things about the way Uranus’ atmosphere works really excites me to learn more about this mysterious planet.” “

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We know that it is composed largely of an icy fluid solution of water, methane and ammonia, which envelops a rocky core. It has 13 rings. and 27 moons we know of – some of which may harbor subsurface oceans.

What Else Is Uranus Hiding?

Uranus continues to intrigue.

Scientists peered deep into a curious ice giant planet that is essentially spinning on its side, and captured evidence of a strongly rotating cyclone at its north pole.

“These observations tell us a lot about the story of Uranus. It’s a more dynamic world than you might think.” NASA radio astronomer alex akins said in a statement, “It’s not a plain blue ball of gas. There’s a lot going on under the hood.”

findings suggest that all our planets Solar system They share a similar property with the atmosphere: they have vortices rotating around their poles. Parts of Earth’s northern polar vortex can infuriate extremely cold winter events in the Americas, Europe and beyond.

“It’s not a plain blue ball of gas. There’s a lot going on under the hood.”

The evidence for rotating cyclones on Uranus was made possible by repeated observations of the gaseous world’s cloud tops. Astronomers used radio telescopes, notably the Very Large Array in New Mexico (made famous in the film Contact) to see the wind swirling beneath the high atmosphere of Uranus. (Radio telescopes see a different type of light than visible light telescopes like Hubble.) The researchers looked at the distinctively warm and dry cyclonic winds.

Uranus is in our solar system, but it’s still about 1.8 billion miles away. It is quite a mysterious place.

NASA’s Akins said, “The fact that we’re still figuring out such simple things about the way Uranus’ atmosphere works really excites me to learn more about this mysterious planet.” “

want more Science More tech news delivered straight to your inbox? sign up for Mashable’s Light Speed ​​newsletter Today.

We know that it is composed largely of an icy fluid solution of water, methane and ammonia, which envelops a rocky core. It has 13 rings. and 27 moons we know of – some of which may harbor subsurface oceans.

What Else Is Uranus Hiding?