Did You Know : Why Neptune and Uranus are of different colors
There are many similarities between Planets Uranus and Neptune but the color of both the planets appears different. One has a yellowish-blue-green color and the other has a dark blue color. This difference had puzzled scientists for a long time. In a new study, UK researchers have been able to find the reason for this difference by analyzing the results of both the planets’ outer atmosphere layers by making patterns.
All the planets in our solar system are very different, but similarities are also seen in many planets. There are many similarities between Earth and Mars, so even after many differences there are some similarities in Earth and Venus. Something similar is also there in Uranus and Neptune. Both the joining seem like planets. They have almost the same size and weight, similar structures and the same speed of rotation. But a difference between the two has definitely surprised the scientists. While Neptune appears dark blue in color, Uranus appears green in light blue color. The new study has worked to shed light on this difference.
Mystery Solved
The study, which was recently uploaded on the preprint for the archive server, is awaiting review. It has been claimed that the color of the two planets has been solved. According to the team led by Patrick Irwin, a planetary physicist from Oxford University in the UK, the extra layer of haze in Uranus works to lighten the color of this planet.
Similar Structures of Both Planets
It has been said in the study that due to haze, the color of Uranus is slightly yellowish compared to Neptune. Surprisingly, there are amazing similarities in both the planets. Both have small stony cores which are surrounded by an ice mantle of water, ammonia, methane, above which the gaseous atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen, helium, methane gas.
After this there are clouds in the upper atmosphere of both the planets. The atmosphere of both is as layered as the other planets of the solar system. Irwin and his colleagues analyzed both visible and near-infrared observations of the planets and made two models of their atmospheric layers. He discovered a pattern that could give the results of such observations as are being seen. It also includes the colors of both the planets.
Other bodies also have flaky atmospheres
In these models or models, there is a layer of photochemical haze in both the planets. This happens when ultraviolet rays from the Sun break down the aerosol particles in the atmosphere, producing haze particles. This general process is also seen in Venus, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter and the dwarf planet Pluto to the Teton and Triton moons.
Researchers named it Aerosol-2, which appears to be the source of the clouds in both the planets. Due to this, the methane turns into ice and takes the form of snow in the lower atmosphere. But this layer in Uranus is twice as opaque than in Neptune. This is the reason why the two planets look so different.
These particles absorb ultraviolet rays, so they do not reflect much from Uranus, so the color appears blue for yellowness, while this absorption is less in Neptune. Here the layer of haze is at a greater depth where the methane re-evaporates and settles on the haze particles, due to which it appears dark blue.
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