After analyzing thirty years of data, scientists have come to a surprising conclusion about Neptune that its clouds have almost completely disappeared – announce From Space.com.
After watching snapshots of the planet from 1994 to 2022, a strange pattern emerged from 2019. In the central part of the planet, the clouds seemed to begin to clear, and finally disappeared entirely, said Emke de Pater, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and head of the research group. , for the news portal.
According to them, the disappearance of the clouds of Neptune is closely related to the way the Sun behaves during its 11-year cycle of activity. The solar cycle basically means how the sun’s magnetic field changes – in just 11 years.
The sun is a giant spherical ocean of charged particles, collectively known as plasma, which means that its structure flows around it and forms over time. They explained that in such a movement, the magnetic fields of the sun, which are associated with all charged particles, mix. In this case, this is it
They put more and more “stress” on the sun until the glowing yellow star can’t take it anymore.
After that, every eleven years, the Sun’s magnetic fields flip, which means that the North Pole becomes the South Pole, and vice versa. Since then, this story has kept repeating itself.
However, during those eleven years, other kinds of things happen due to changes in the magnetic field:
There may be an increase in solar flares that emit incredibly powerful radiation into space.
These can sometimes be so strong that they disturb satellites orbiting the Earth, as well as causing temporary small breaks in communication lines. But you don’t have to worry about Neptune pulling in, because once the sun’s ultraviolet radiation increases a bit, it will reappear.
But more important from the point of view of the team’s analysis of Neptune is that the sun emits a lot of ultraviolet radiation as its magnetic fields shift, and this radiation “drowns” the rest of the solar system, including Earth. Astronomers pointed out.
