Neptune's 'Unexpected' Temperature Changes Leave Scientists In Shock

Neptune, the most distant planet in our solar system, has seen rapid and unexpected temperature fluctuations, space scientists have discovered. The latest research has been conducted by scientists at the University of Leicester and published in Planetary Science Journal.

The research tracked Neptune's temperature changes over 17 years and found that the cold planet, where the temperature plummets to minus 220 degrees Celsius, is dramatically warmed at the south pole.

Michael Roman, the lead author of the study - "Sub-Seasonal Variation in Neptune's Mid-Infrared Emission" - said in a statement that the change was "unexpected". Roman stated, “Since we have been observing Neptune during its early southern summer, we expected temperatures to be slowly growing warmer, not colder.”

Just like Earth, Neptune also goes through seasons. However, a Neptune season is much longer, at about 40 years, since a whole Neptune year is equivalent to 165 Earth years. Therefore, scientists were keen to understand how the long seasonal changes might happen, especially in the wake of the solstice on the south of Neptune.

Experts believe that the dramatic change in Neptune's atmosphere could be the result of the planet's chemistry or weather patterns. They looked at almost 100 thermal-infrared images of the planet and found that even though summer had arrived, most of the planet had actually cooled. But experts also observed that the south pole of the planet had warmed again.

As per the research, between 2003 and 2018, the average temperature across the planet dropped by eight degrees Celsius. But at the south pole, the temperature rose 11 degrees Celsius between 2018 and 2020. Neither of these rapid changes was expected by space scientists. The researchers said that the period covered is less than one season, which is why they had expected far more gradual variations.

Further, the new paper revealed that the variations were so shocking that researchers are not yet able to explain them. For now, the researchers hope to answer the questions with more future observations.

“I think Neptune is itself very intriguing to many of us because we still know so little about it,” Roman said in the statement. “This all points towards a more complicated picture of Neptune's atmosphere and how it changes with time,” he added.