LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Evidence of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus From VLA Observations

Photo by usgs from unsplash

We present observations of Uranus in northern spring with the Very Large Array from 0.7 to 5 cm. These observations reveal details in thermal emission from Uranus' north pole at… Click to show full abstract

We present observations of Uranus in northern spring with the Very Large Array from 0.7 to 5 cm. These observations reveal details in thermal emission from Uranus' north pole at 10s of bars, including a dark collar near 80°N and a bright spot at the polar center. The bright central spot resembles observations of polar emission on Saturn and Neptune at shallower pressures. We constrain the variations in temperature and NH3/H2S abundances which could explain these features. We find that the brightness temperature of the polar spot can be recreated through 5 K temperature gradients and/or 10× depletion of NH3 or H2S vapor between 10 and 20 bars, both consistent with the presence of a cyclonic polar vortex. The contrast of the polar spot may have increased since 2015, which would suggest seasonal evolution of Uranus' polar circulation at depth.

Keywords: spot; polar cyclone; cyclone uranus; vla observations; evidence polar; uranus vla

Journal Title: Geophysical Research Letters
Year Published: 2023

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.