You've probably heart of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, and Earth obviously has thunderstorms, but scientists are still learning about weather on the other planets in our solar system. This summer scientists discovered a cyclone hidden on Uranus.Â
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/VLA
Looking at the images above, the cyclone is the lighter-colored spot to the right of center in each image. Scientists have been collecting this data since 2015 because Uranus's poles are pointed more directly toward Earth as it rotates around the sun on it's 84 year orbital path. Unlike on Earth, these cyclones don't move across they planet. They stay at the poles; this one is at Uranus's north pole. When it announced this finding, NASA also shared this interesting fact:Â "With the new findings, cyclones (which rotate in the same direction their planet rotates) or anti-cyclones (which rotate in the opposite direction) have now been identified at the poles on every planet in our solar system except for Mercury, which has no substantial atmosphere." NASA's Voyager 2 craft helped scientists look below the methane clouds to find a "swirling feature" on Uranus's south pole years ago, but this discovery of a cyclone of warm, dry air at the north pole is a new development.
