The Hubble Space Telescope has spent more than three decades capturing some of the most incredible images of the known universe, but it’s only in the last decade that scientists have turned their gaze to our solar system’s exoplanets, observing them like never before.

Over the past decade, NASA’s Exoplanet Atmosphere Heritage (OPAL) program has obtained detailed images of long-term changes in the skies of the four closest giants to Earth: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; each of these contains a unique feature. to arrange. atmospheric variables. OPAL data allowed astronomers to better understand the dynamics and changes over time of these exoplanets by observing their weather patterns and seasons.

Hubble is capable of observing wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared light, regularly providing high-resolution images of the gas giants once a year as each orbit brings them closer to Earth. Now, a decade into operation, the NASA Hubble OPAL team will present a ten-year review of the program’s results at the December meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, DC.

“As OPAL enters its 10th year and continues into this year, our database of planetary observations continues to grow. This longevity allows for serendipitous discoveries and monitoring of long-term changes in the atmosphere as planets orbit the Sun. The scientific value of these data is emphasized. To date, there are over 60 publications containing OPAL data,” said Amy Simon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
expressions

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Gases in the planet’s atmosphere drift tens of thousands of miles below the cloud tops, toward its core. In addition to its size, Jupiter is also known for its Great Red Spot. The distinctive swirling red vortex on the gas giant’s face is the largest storm in the Solar System; A powerful typhoon almost three times the size of the Earth.

Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun takes 12 years, allowing OPAL to observe the seasons for nearly a Jupiter year. During this time, visible changes in the size and shape of the Great Red Spot, as well as other atmospheric phenomena in the bands surrounding the gas giant, were observed. According to NASA, Jupiter’s seasonal variations are minimal because its axial tilt of only three degrees causes only around five percent atmospheric variability over its orbit. (On the other hand, the Earth’s axial tilt is approximately 23.5 degrees, which causes different seasons on our planet.)

Saturn takes twice as long to orbit the Sun, with an orbital period of 29 years. The ring giant has a much steeper tilt of 26.7 degrees, resulting in much larger seasonal variations than Jupiter. Over more than a decade of observations, OPAL tracked the changing color of Saturn’s atmosphere and cloud depth during the cyclical change of seasons on the planet.

Hubble was also able to observe Saturn’s elusive dark ring bars. These dark rings, first discovered by NASA’s Voyager mission in the 1980s, are present in only two to three orbits around Saturn. Thanks to Hubble, astronomers now know that the rings are a seasonal phenomenon.

Uranus

Uranus is almost completely tilted and its rotation is almost in the same plane as the planet’s orbit around the Sun, which lasts a staggering 84 years.

Over the past decade, OPAL has observed the northern hemisphere of Uranus, which overlooks the inner Solar System, slowly tilt toward the Sun during Hubble’s time in space. During its slow orbit around the Sun, the brightness of Uranus’ northern polar cap increased as the hemisphere approached the summer solstice in 2028.