Uranus' stormy weather has astronomers baffled


The surface of the seventh planet from the sun is normally pretty calm — which is why amateur and professional astronomers alike were thrilled to see storms brewing on Uranus' face earlier this year. A team at the University of California, Berkeley, noticed eight large storms on the planet on August 5 and 6, one of which was the brightest storm ever seen on Uranus.
"The weather on Uranus is incredibly active," said astronomer and UC Berkeley professor Imke de Pater in a statement released by the university Wednesday. Co-investigator Heidi Hammel, from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, said "why we see these incredible storms now is beyond anybody's guess."
Uranus was due for severe weather back in 2007 because of an equinox that occurs there once every 42 years, Hammel noted in the statement. But these recent storms were unexpected, and lit up the planet in a departure from its usual status in the sky: "boring blue dot."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The activity was visible even for amateur astronomers. Frenchman Marc Delcroix was using the famed Pic du Midi telescope when he photographed the activity. "Getting details on Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn is now routine, but seeing detail on Uranus… is the new frontier," Delcroix said. Read more on Uranus' strange weather here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
May 31 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include how much to pay for a pardon, medical advice from a brain worm, and a simple solution to the national debt.
-
5 costly cartoons about the national debt
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on the USA's financial hole, rare bipartisan agreement, and Donald Trump and Mike Johnson.
-
Green goddess salad recipe
The Week Recommends Avocado can be the creamy star of the show in this fresh, sharp salad
-
EPA is reportedly killing Energy Star program
speed read The program for energy-efficient home appliances has saved consumers billions in energy costs since its 1992 launch
-
US proposes eroding species protections
Speed Read The Trump administration wants to change the definition of 'harm' in the Environmental Protection Act to allow habitat damage
-
Severe storms kill dozens across central US
Speed Read At least 40 people were killed over the weekend by tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms
-
Rain helps Los Angeles wildfires, risks mudslides
Speed Read The weather provided relief for crews working to contain wildfires, though rain over a burn area ups the chances of flooding and mudslides
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progress
Speed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spread
Speed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panic
Speed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cyclone
Speed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean