Discovery of a polar cyclone at the north pole of Uranus? Paying attention to changes in the next few years | Site of the sora portal to space

This is Uranus observed in October 2021 with the Karl-Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, USA. The North Pole lies in the center of the bright round region. Microwaves were used for the observation, and the three images show Uranus captured in different frequency bands (from left, K band, Ka band, and Q band are used).

A research team led by Alex Akins from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) analyzed VLA observations of Uranus and found a polar cyclone at the north pole of Uranus. The cyclone, or low pressure, in the image above is seen as the brightest spot in the center of the circular region, and warmer, drier air appears to be circulating around the North Pole.

According to JPL, Uranus’ polar cyclones are compact in shape, similar to those found on Saturn by observations from the Cassini spacecraft. If Uranus does have polar cyclones, it would mean that cyclonic or anticyclonic vortices have been confirmed at the poles of all the planets of the solar system (seven except Mercury) that have different atmospheres. “Uranus is more than just a ball of blue gas. There’s a lot going on beneath its surface,” Akins said.

The axis of rotation of Uranus is tilted about 98 degrees in relation to its orbit, and because of its long orbital period of about 84 years, the north and south polar regions are illuminated by the sun for 42 years each is increasing. When NASA’s planetary probe “Voyager 2” arrived in 1986, Uranus was in the summer season in the southern hemisphere, but now the southern hemisphere is in the winter season with long nights.

As Uranus currently has a summer season in the northern hemisphere (the summer solstice will be in 2028), it is easier to observe the north pole region of Uranus from the ground, so the research team will observe at multiple wavelengths from microwaves to visible light. I’m calling. According to JPL, researchers will continue to carefully monitor how the Uranus polar cyclone reported to be discovered this time will change in the next few years.

【▲ Reference: Uranus was photographed in November 2022 with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) of the Hubble Space Telescope (Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Simon (NASA-GSFC), MH Wong (UC Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI))]

Source

• Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/VLA
• NASA/JPL – NASA Scientists Make First Observation of Polar Cyclone on Uranu
• Akins et al. – Evidence of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus from VLA Observations (Geophysical Research Letters)

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