Uranus at Opposition

Polar vortex has entered the American lexicon with a fury in recent years. It’s used to describe especially bitter outbreaks of winter weather. The northern hemisphere actually has two polar vortexes. The one that gives us the extreme cold is fairly low in the atmosphere. It’s formed by jet streams that encircle the pole that sometimes plunge southward. The other is much higher in the atmosphere.

The higher vortexes are seen on every planet and moon in the solar system with much of an atmosphere. That includes Uranus, the third-largest planet. Scientists found evidence to confirm the vortex last year.

Hints of a vortex around the north pole were seen in 2015. More recently, scientists looked at the pole with a giant radio telescope in New Mexico. They saw an especially bright area at the pole itself, with a dark ring around it. The bright region was warmer than the surrounding atmosphere. The combination provides strong evidence of a polar vortex.

Air in the upper atmosphere moves toward the poles. It’s deflected by the planet’s high-speed rotation – forming a “vortex” around the north pole.

Uranus is putting in its best appearance of the year. It’s lining up opposite the Sun, so it rises around sunset and is in view all night. It’s brightest for the year as well. But you still need binoculars or a telescope to see it, along the border between Taurus and Aries.

We’ll have more about Uranus tomorrow.

Script by Damond Benningfield