#AstroMiniBR: Strange change in Neptune’s temperatures

Every week, TecMundo and #AstroMiniBR brings together five relevant and entertaining astronomical curiosities produced by the world’s collaborators. profile on twitter to spread the knowledge of this science, which is the oldest!

#1: Neptune’s strange variation in temperatures

GLOBAL COOLING?

Following the temperature of Neptune for 17 years, scientists are surprised to see which planet is colder, but whose south pole is warmer! There is still no explanation for this phenomenon.

The seasons there last 40 years!#AstroMiniBR pic.twitter.com/72P0FodDfD

— Thiago S Gonçalves (@thiagosgbr) April 11, 2022

Last Monday (11), the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reported that it had discovered unusual variations in the planet’s atmospheric temperature. Neptunelast in order of distance from our Sun solar system.

Using observations from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and other ground-based telescopes, a team of astronomers studied the temperatures of distant Neptune’s atmosphere over a 17-year period and found a significant downward trend in the planet’s global temperatures. This wouldn’t come as much of a surprise in itself if it wasn’t for a second strange discovery: Neptune’s sun pole is undergoing intense warming rather than cooling along with other parts of the planet!

Such variations are unexpected, according to the researchers who made the discoveries, because the theoretical expectation was that Neptune’s temperatures would increase gradually rather than vice versa.

To make this discovery, astronomers analyzed thermal images showing Neptune’s average global temperature dropped 8°C between 2003 and 2018, and temperatures at its south pole rose 11°C in observations over the past two years. 2018 and 2018. 2020. It is not yet known why this happened.

#2: First human in space!

Exactly 61 years ago, on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space!??

“I see the world… Blue”

– Cosmonaut spent less than 2 hours on Vostok 1
-Walked around the planet and safely returned to Earth#AstroMiniBR#NoDiaDeHoje pic.twitter.com/b3hEc7D3nY

– Patricia Cruz, PhD (@patyccruz2) April 12, 2022

Celebrating his 61st birthday last week, on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin embarked on a journey that would go down in history as the first human in space. The transport that achieved this feat was a small spacecraft just over 1.80 meters in diameter called Vostok 1, so primitive that any scientist nowadays would have a nervous breakdown at the thought of putting someone there and taking him into space.

However, relying on some so-called luck, the Russian cosmonaut went into space and returned safely to Earth’s surface on April 12. This was one of the most important milestones in the space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War to demonstrate dominance in space.

Gagarin’s flight lasted a little over 100 minutes, at an altitude of about 315 kilometers from the Earth’s surface and at a very high speed of 28,000 km/h. During this journey, as Vostok 1 completed its one and only orbit around the planet, Gagarin uttered his famous and emotional statement: “I see the earth… The earth is blue! How beautiful!”

#3: What is it like to work in space?

How is the view from your office?

The recording below shows an excerpt from the 6-hour spacewalk by astronauts Drew Morgan and Luca Parmitano. They were fixing an antimatter detector detector on the International Space Station!#AstroMiniBRpic.twitter.com/MgyLPS3EvG

— Nicolas Oliveira (@nicooliveira_) April 11, 2022

No matter how beautiful the view from your office (or home if you’re working from home), it certainly isn’t more impressive than the view from the comrades’ workspace above.

This recording shows the impressive image of ESA (European Space Agency) astronauts Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan’s external study of the International Space Station (ISS).

The exterior work of the duo, which took place on January 25, 2020, took about 6 hours and aimed to make thermal repairs on it. Alpha Magnetic SpectrometerAn astrophysical instrument that searches for evidence of dark matter and antimatter in the ISS’s Starboard-3 lattice structure.

#4: Did you know that the Moon looks different in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere?

The direction of the Moon is different in each hemisphere.

A Northern Hemisphere resident sees the Moon “upside down” compared to a Southern Hemisphere resident! Therefore, the ascending and descending stages are reversed!#AstroMiniBR pic.twitter.com/lWfpJdWVJf

— Ana Carolina Posses (@astroposses) April 9, 2022

For those of you who have traveled to the Northern Hemisphere, you may have noticed that the Moon appears upside down there (or the Moon appears upside down here if you live in the North and visit the South).

To understand why this happens, imagine that the Moon’s orbit is exactly in the same plane as Earth’s equator. In the northern hemisphere, the Moon is in the southern sky because this is the direction of the Earth’s equator, but in the southern hemisphere the situation is reversed.

It’s just a matter of orientation and happens when two observers look at the same object from opposite directions and naturally this means that one sees the object as inverted compared to the other.

#5: Sounds of Mars

Start your day with the sound of Mars captured by @NASAPersevere ??
the sound is dominated by the sound of the rover, but on the red planet it is possible to hear some wind, which is important for us to understand the atmosphere of Mars ??? audio from February 21.

{c} NASA/JPL-Caltech/DPA#AstroMiniBR pic.twitter.com/nv6fO7e6Ql

— yanna martins franco (@martins_yanna) April 11, 2022

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to hear a sound on Mars, here it is: grab your headphones, turn up the volume and listen to the recording above!

Perseverance rover on the surface of the red planet carries two microphones and allows it to directly record the sounds of Mars! Even though Earth and Mars are completely different planets, these sounds are not that obvious! If you were on Mars, you’d hear a quieter, muffled version of what you’d hear on Earth, and you’d wait a little longer to hear it due to its thinner atmosphere!