Hubble Monitors Changing Weather and Seasons on Jupiter and Uranus

Stsci_2023-007g_1024

stsci_2023-007g March 23rd, 2023

Credit: SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley) IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Ever since its launch in 1990, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has been an interplanetary weather observer for keeping an eye on the largely gaseous outer planets, which all have ever-changing atmospheres. NASA spacecraft missions to the outer planets have given us a close-up look at these atmospheres, but Hubble’s sharpness and sensitivity keeps an unblinking eye on an ever-changing kaleidoscope of complex activities long after those missions have ended. Inaugurated in 2014, the telescope’s Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) Program has been providing us with yearly views of the giant planets. Planetary oddball Uranus rolls on its side around the Sun as it follows an 84-year orbit, rather than spinning in a more-vertical position as Earth does. Uranus has a weirdly tipped “horizontal” rotation axis angled just eight degrees off the plane of the planet’s orbit. A recent idea is that Uranus once had a massive moon that gravitationally destabilized it and then crashed into it. Other possibilities include giant impacts during planetary formation, or even giant planets exerting resonant torques on each other over time. The consequences of the planet’s tilt are that for stretches of time lasting up to 42 years, parts of one hemisphere are completely without sunlight. When the Voyager spacecraft visited during the 1980s the planet’s south pole was pointed almost directly at the Sun. Hubble’s latest view shows the northern pole now tipping toward the Sun.

This is a Hubble view of Uranus taken in 2014, seven years after northern spring equinox when the Sun was shining directly over the planet’s equator, and shows one of the first images from the OPAL program. Multiple storms with methane ice-crystal clouds appear at mid-northern latitudes above the planet’s cyan-tinted lower atmosphere. Hubble photographed the ring system edge-on in 2007, but the rings are seen at an oblique angle seven years later in this view. At this time, the planet had multiple small storms and even some faint cloud bands.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-007

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://stsci.edu/copyright/

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Jupiter Uranus
Subject - Solar System
Planet > Type > Gas Giant

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 0h 49m 14.1s
DEC = 4° 31’ 43.2”
Constellation
Pisces

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical 467.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical 547.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical 845.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Stsci_2023-007g_1280
×
ID
2023-007g
Subject Category
A.1.1.2  
Subject Name
Jupiter, Uranus
Credits
SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley) IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Release Date
2023-03-23T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-007
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble, Hubble, Hubble
Instrument
WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/UVIS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
467, 547, 845
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
12.3089458, 4.5286611
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
STScI
URL
http://stsci.edu
Name
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email
outreach@stsci.edu
Telephone
410-338-4444
Address
3700 San Martin Drive
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
USA
Rights
http://stsci.edu/copyright/
Publisher
STScI
Publisher ID
stsci
Resource ID
STSCI-H-p23007g-f-1388x1388.tif
Metadata Date
2023-03-09T12:04:36-05:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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