A new dark spot in Neptune has been discovered by astronomers with the help of the Hubble Telescope and it was confirmed on June 25, 2016. The dark spot on this planet is quite similar to Jupiter’s Red Spot, and it is being formed mainly due to storms which happen in its atmosphere.
Red spots in Jupiter usually last long for centuries, but the spots in Neptune will get faded within some years.
Earlier, these dark spots with short lifespan were identified in 1989 by Voyager 2 and the Hubble in 1994. This is for the first time that this spot became visible in the 21st Century.
Astronomers used to call this spot ‘vortex’, and these images were captured on May 16, 2016.
New Dark Spot in Neptune:
The ‘Hubblesite’ also issued a statement confirming the black spot. The statement read that in most of the times, these dark patches will be surrounded by bright companion clouds.
Mike Wong, an astronomer at the University of Berkeley who led this research told that these brighter clouds are formed due to the ambient air flow around this spot. It will result in freezing of gases into methane ice particles.
The presence of this new dark spot was first discussed in the early months of July. Now, with this new revelation, things are now clear and we can confirm the presence of this spot on the distant planet.
According to experts, Neptune’s Vortex can be viewed only at Blue wavelengths, and Hubble Telescope is the one and only device which is capable in observing them.
Space experts are now quite curious to know the secrets behind the drifts and oscillations of these spots, and how they finally vanish from the atmosphere.
