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Saturday, January 6, 2024

Neptune A Baby Blue

Business Insider reports: "If you thought the planet Neptune was a deep blue color, turns out you're wrong." Most of us probably grew up seeing photographs of Neptune from the Voyager 2 mission which show the planet having a deep, electric or royal blue color. However, as the article relates, those are enhanced images. 

    During its closest approach to Neptune in 1989, Voyager 2 gathered images in separate colors, which were then recombined into composites that didn't always reflect the "true" color of the planet, the Oxford scientists explained.

    They said the contrast was also amped up to emphasize distinctive features like the planet's bands and clouds.

    This meant that Neptune has long appeared "artificially too blue," said the study's lead author, Prof. Patrick Irwin.

Unenhanced images show that the color is more of a light powder blue, very similar to that of Uranus. 

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