Neptune's seasons. Hubble Space Telescope image of brightening cloud bands in Neptune's southern hemisphere in 1996 (left), 1998 and 2002 (right). Thi

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Neptune's seasons. Hubble Space Telescope image of brightening cloud bands in Neptune's southern hemisphere in 1996 (left), 1998 and 2002 (right). This change may be due to the arrival of spring. Seasons on Earth are caused by its axial tilt of 23 degrees, meaning that the hemispheres receive different amounts of light at different times of the year. Neptune has an axial tilt of 29 degrees, so a similar effect could occur. One year on Neptune is 165 Earth years, so the seasonal change would be correspondingly slower. Neptune has wild weather despite its distance from the Sun, and winds can reach 2000 kilometres per hour.

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Size: 3780px × 2362px
Photo credit: © NASA/ESA/STSCI/L.SROMOVSKY & P.FRY, UW-MADISON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1996, 1998, 2002, astronomical, astronomy, atmosphere, atmospheric, brightening, changing, cloud, clouds, cosmology, hemisphere, horizontal, hst, hubble, neptune, planet, planetary, science, season, seasons, southern, space, spring, springtime, telescope, weather