By Iain Thomson,
Uranus is one of the darkest places in our Solar System - which makes spotting it from Earth hard. Astronomers have caught the gas giant lighting up as unexplained storms ripped away its atmospheric cover.
Something is rumbling deep within Uranus
Using the W. M. Keck II Telescope on Hawaii, astronomers first noted the planet's unusual appearance on August 5 and 6: a bright spot appeared that accounted for 30 per cent of the light usually reflected by the gas giant. They estimated that the images showed a massive storm disrupting the upper atmosphere of the planet.
"This type of activity would have been expected in 2007, when Uranus's once every 42-year equinox occurred and the Sun shined directly on the equator," noted co-investigator Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.
"But we predicted that such activity would have died down by now. Why we see these incredible storms now is beyond anybody's guess."
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/11...otty_interior/
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