Why are Uranus and Neptune different in color from Jupiter and Saturn?
ANSWER Neptune takes 165 years to fully orbit the Sun. Its axis is tilted 29° from the ecliptic. For this reason, like Earth, scientists postulated seasonal changes in the weather patterns exhibited by the bands. If these seasons are analogous to the four on Earth, about 41 years is needed to complete a neptunian season. After 7 years of observations by HST, these changes – brightening and broadening of the bands first noted – seem to confirm that such changes are happening. Both Uranus and Neptune have a few rings, which are faint and thin. A ground-based telescope image made by a European Space Agency telescope seems to indicate Uranus’ rings are as well-developed as Saturn’s. The rings are actually much more tenuous than those of Saturn. This enhanced Hubble Space Telescope of Uranus highlights both the variations within the atmosphere and its most prominent ring. Note too that this image shows the planet in its proper orientaton, with its rotation axis “flipped” about 90 ° so that
