By Karl Hammer ’25
Everybody has seen them: Uranus and Neptune. The frigid planets at the edge of our solar system far away from humanity’s reach, are known for their distinct colors. While Uranus’ stormy and gaseous atmosphere reflects a beautiful sky blue, Neptune’s depths resemble an Earth-like ocean blue.
Since pictures of the gas giants were released to the public in the 80’s, there was no doubt as to their distinct hues. But would you believe that the famous photos of the icy twins’ were inaccurate? In the past weeks, new studies released rebut the misconception held by space enthusiasts around the world: Uranus and Neptune have an almost identical blue tint.
When NASA launched the Voyager Program in the 70’s, one thing was on their mind. For the first time, they would capture close-up images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to further enhance scientific knowledge about them. When, after many years of soaring through the dark and cold vacuum of space the Voyager probes finally reached Uranus and Neptune, the amalgamation of data sent back to the labs was quickly processed into photos digestible for the public. Although with a caveat.
When the data was converted into images, the darkness of Neptune’s blue had been exaggerated to be able to distinguish minute details and nuance in the atmosphere, otherwise not visible to the naked eye. This had also been done to Uranus, although not to the same extent. When the image processing was complete, astronomers made side notes indicating the tinkering they had engaged in. The only problem? Over the last 50 years, this information has gone lost and the “color-enhanced” images of Uranus and Neptune took over common belief and pop culture.
So, what do the new studies find? Why does this matter? A recent study led by Professor Patrick Irwing of Oxford University uses data amassed by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to reveal the accurate colors of the icy twins. En lieu of the colors previously known to mankind, Uranus’ blue is whiter, while Neptune’s blue has changed categories from dark to light, resembling Uranus more than ever.
This new finding says a lot about the importance of truth, accuracy, and the power of popular narrative. Astronomers did their job, indicating the caveat of the original photos of Uranus and Neptune. Unfortunately, it is very rare for popular belief to be influenced by such minute details, leading the world to believe that Neptune and Uranus were bluer than they truly are.
Sources:
Ferreira, Becky. “Uranus and Neptune Reveal Their True Colors.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Jan. 2024, http://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/science/uranus-neptune-colors-blue.html.
Hazy Blue Worlds: A Holistic Aerosol Model for … – Wiley Online Library, agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JE007189. Accessed 30 Jan. 2024.
Irwin, Patrick GJ, and Patrick Irwin. “Prof. Patrick Irwin.” University of Oxford Department of Physics, http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/irwin. Accessed 30 Jan. 2024.
Kuthunur, Sharmila. “Uranus and Neptune Are Actually Similar Blues, ‘true’ Color Images Reveal.” Space.Com, Space, 5 Jan. 2024, http://www.space.com/uranus-neptune-similar-shades-of-blue-voyager-2-images.
“New Images Reveal What Neptune and Uranus Really Look Like.” University of Oxford, http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-01-05-new-images-reveal-what-neptune-and-uranus-really-look-0#:~:text=Professor%20Patrick%20Irwin.,has%20a%20pale%20cyan%20appearance. Accessed 30 Jan. 2024.
X, Science. “New Images Reveal What Neptune and Uranus Really Look Like.” Phys.Org, Phys.org, 5 Jan. 2024, phys.org/news/2024-01-images-reveal-neptune-uranus.html.
