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Neptune’s Clouds
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Caption:
The bright cirrus-like clouds of Neptune change rapidly, often forming and dissipating over periods of several to tens of hours. In this sequence Voyager 2 observed cloud evolution in the region around the Great Dark Spot (GDS). The surprisingly rapid changes which occur separating each panel shows that in this region Neptune's weather is perhaps as dynamic and variable as that of the Earth. However, the scale is immense by our standards -- the Earth and the GDS are of similar size -- and in Neptune's frigid atmosphere, where temperatures are as low as 55 degrees Kelvin (-360 F), the cirrus clouds are composed of frozen methane rather than Earth's crystals of water ice.
Background Info:
The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Neptune | |
| System | Neptune | |
| Target Type | Planet | |
| Mission | Voyager | |
| Instrument Host | Cassini Orbiter | Voyager 2 |
| Host Type | Orbiter | Flyby Spacecraft |
| Instrument | Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Atmosphere, Grayscale, Methane, Storm, Water | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 1999-10-14 | |
| Date in Caption | ||
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01982 | |
| Identifier | PIA01982 | |
