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The Miracle of Cosmic Storms: Why Does Neptune's Great Dark Spot Move?
At the edge of the distant solar system, the mysterious planet Neptune has amazing meteorological phenomena, the most eye-catching of which is the "Great Black Spot." This swirling storm, similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, has attracted the attention of astronomers since it was first observed by NASA's Voyager 2 probe in 1989. However, why are these black spots able to move? This has become a subject of in-depth study by scientists.
The Great Black Spot was a massive vortex in Neptune's southern hemisphere, initially measuring 13,000 × 6,600 kilometers, similar to the size of Earth.
The presence of the Great Dark Spot shows how Neptune's climate system works. In addition to being similar in size to Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Neptune's Great Dark Spot exhibits another important characteristic: its ability to move in the north-south direction. This phenomenon has left the scientific community full of questions about the origin of its movement.
According to observations, Neptune's black spot storms usually produce powerful wind speeds, with wind speeds at the edges reaching 2,100 kilometers per hour, making them one of the fastest wind speeds in the solar system. Such strange phenomena have aroused people's curiosity about its stability and existence mechanism.
Neptune's black spot is thought to be a gap in the methane clouds and looks similar to cirrus clouds high in the sky.
Most of Neptune's dark spots remain stable for several months, indicating that they are low-level swirling structures, in contrast to Jupiter's persistent storms. These large dark spots usually have a life cycle of only a few years, and once they appear, they gradually disappear, or they may be covered by other clouds as they move.
When the Great Black Spot was observed again by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, it had completely disappeared. Astronomers suspect that this may be caused by the Great Dark Spot moving toward the equator or another unknown mechanism.
As well as observing the big black spot, scientists also noticed the formation of many other black spots. For example, in the Northern Dark Spot discovered by Hubble in 1994, these dark spots, although short-lived, showed similar motion patterns. The background activity of these dark spots is closely related to changes in the surrounding clouds.
Relevant research shows that the formation of black spots is usually accompanied by an increase in cloud activity in the 2-3 years before appearance.
Observations of the Southern Black Spot between 2015 and 2017 showed that it drifted poleward and disappeared as it approached the equator. Such behavior has prompted people to think and explore climate dynamics, especially the role of the Coriolis force in these motions. As the spot moves toward the equator, a weakening of this force can destabilize the storm, causing it to dissipate.
In recent observations in 2018, a new large black spot formed and exhibited similar motion behavior to the previous black spot. However, these observational limitations leave scientists still questioning its true motion.
According to the observations, the sudden reversal motion of the black spot may be related to the activity of the associated clouds.
Although there are currently several proposals for missions to detect Neptune, including the "Nipton Odyssey" planned to be launched in 2033, the formation and disappearance of these dark spots remains an unsolved mystery. With the development of science and technology and the improvement of observation techniques, more secrets about these cosmic storms may be revealed in the future.
While observing these fascinating phenomena, we cannot help but ask: How many unexplored meteorological wonders are hidden in the distant space?
