Detroit, MI

Mysterious dark spot detected on Neptune

Published

1 year ago

August 25, 2023

Mysterious dark spot detected on Neptune

(CNN) — Astronomers have spotted a large and mysterious dark spot within Neptune’s atmosphere, and it has an unexpectedly bright companion.

The observation was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.

cnn-l19jb21wb25lbnrzl2ltywdll2luc3rhbmnlcy9jbgxxetf5zxowmda2mzu2z2xlczrnogpv-l19wywdlcy9jbgxxegdwmwwwmda2njdubtvnzgvmatq3.jpg — This image of Neptune, taken by the MUSE instrument located on the Very Large Telescope, shows a dark spot in the upper right of the planet’s atmosphere.

ESO/P. Irwin et al.
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Space-based observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope have observed vortex-like storms — which appear as dark spots — swirling in the blue planet’s atmosphere before, but it’s the first time an Earth-based telescope has seen one on Neptune.

These new observations are shedding more light on the phenomenon, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“Since the first discovery of a dark spot, I’ve always wondered what these short-lived and elusive dark features are,” said lead study author Patrick Irwin, professor of planetary physics at the University of Oxford, in a statement.

Gas giants and dark spots

Giant gaseous planets in our solar system, including Neptune, are known for the dark spots that appear in their atmospheres, such as Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a centuries-old storm.

Neptune, an ice giant, has had multiple storms observed by Hubble over the years. The storms all seem to follow a pattern of appearing and disappearing over the course of two years, making them difficult to study. Voyager 2, a NASA probe launched in the 1970s, also glimpsed two dark storms on Neptune during its 1989 flyby of the planet, but those disappeared well before Hubble could observe them when it captured images of Neptune in 1994. The Great Dark Spot on Neptune, the nickname given to the largest storm witnessed by Voyager 2, was so large that it could contain Earth.

Neptune’s storms behave differently than hurricanes on Earth. The dark spots are high-pressure systems that start out stable and rotate clockwise, while hurricanes in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere are low-pressure systems that rotate counterclockwise.

What Irwin and his team sought to find out is how these massive storms on Neptune form in the first place.

Newly discovered Neptune feature

Neptune, which has a blue hue due to the methane in its atmosphere, is a frozen world with an average temperature of minus 392 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 235 degrees Celsius) and screaming winds that send frozen methane clouds across the planet at 1,200 miles per hour (1,931 kilometers per hour). It’s the most distant planet in our solar system, about 30 times father from the sun than Earth is, and this distance makes noon on Neptune look like twilight on Earth.

When Hubble discovered new dark spots on Neptune in 2018, Irwin’s team seized its chance to conduct Earth-based observations with the Very Large Telescope and its Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument, or MUSE. The instrument allows astronomers to observe the entirety of an astronomical object all at once in different wavelengths of light, according to the European Southern Observatory.

Earth’s atmosphere tends to create a distorting effect for ground-based telescopes, but MUSE relies on a technique called adaptive optics to capture sharp images. The telescope’s mirrors, controlled by computers, can make real-time adjustments that correct any distortions caused by Earth’s atmosphere and preserve the fine details of celestial objects.

Data captured by the Very Large Telescope helped astronomers determine that the dark spots aren’t caused by gaps, or a clearing, in the clouds. Instead, the observations suggest that spots appear as darkening air particles gather beneath Neptune’s prominent atmospheric layer, where haze and ice mix together.

The MUSE instrument captured a 3D spectrum of light for Neptune and its dark spot, allowing astronomers to study the storm in detail and even make a surprise observation.

“In the process we discovered a rare deep bright cloud type that had never been identified before, even from space,” said study coauthor Michael Wong, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, in a statement.

The unusual cloud appeared in the observation as a smaller bright spot next to the larger dark spot, and both are on the same atmospheric level. The astronomers said they are intrigued by the newly discovered feature and hope to learn more with future observations that can be conducted from Earth.

“This is an astounding increase in humanity’s ability to observe the cosmos,” Wong said. “At first, we could only detect these spots by sending a spacecraft there, like Voyager. Then we gained the ability to make them out remotely with Hubble. Finally, technology has advanced to enable this from the ground.”

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Pistons Players React To Cade Cunningham’s Instagram Post

Published

5 hours ago

October 5, 2024

Press Room

Detroit Pistons Players React To Cade Cunningham’s Instagram Post

Cade Cunningham is entering his fourth season in the NBA.

The Detroit Pistons star is coming off a year where he averaged 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists per contest while shooting 44.9% from the field and 35.5% from the three-point range in 62 games.

On Friday, he made a post to Instagram that had over 37,000 likes in four hours.

Cunningham captioned his post: “Year 4”

There were over 500 comments, and several of his Pistons teammates left messages.

Isaiah Stewart: “Go Ham 👊🏾💯”

Malik Beasley: “Duce !!!”

Wendell Moore: “💫💫”

Tobias Harris: “‼️‼️‼️‼️”

Cade Cunningham’s Instagram Post / October 4

Cunningham is the most important player on the Pistons, so fans will likely love seeing his teammates supporting him on social media.

He was the first pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma State.

His career averages are 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.0 steals per contest while shooting 43.2% from the field and 32.9% from the three-point range in 138 games.

The 23-year-old has yet to appear in an NBA playoff game.

Rise & grind pic.twitter.com/wGqMEQZPKV
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) October 3, 2024

The Pistons will play their first preseason game on Sunday when they face off against Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks.

They will open up the regular season on October 23 when they visit Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers.

Tobias Harris on Cade Cunningham: “Our connection’s been great… He’s a huge reason why I decided to come here, just understanding what type of leader he is for this group, the goals he has as a player and so super skilled on the floor.” https://t.co/31bTsf2uea
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) October 3, 2024

The Pistons finished last season as the 15th seed in the Eastern Conference with a 14-68 record.

They have been unable to make the NBA playoffs since the 2019 season when Blake Griffin was still on the roster.

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Detroit, MI

Taylor Swift fans in Metro Detroit fall victim to ticket scam

Published

13 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

Taylor Swift fans in Metro Detroit fall victim to ticket scam

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Taylor Swift fans flock to nearby cities to see the star take the stage.

A group from Sterling Heights paid a lot of money to see Taylor Swift in Toronto and learned that their tickets had disappeared.

The scam is familiar to consumers on Ticketmaster and has caused much concern.

“I just started crying,” said Dominique Parham. “It was devastating and traumatizing because they were gone. They were out of my account and have been claimed by someone else, and I have seen so many horror stories of so many people not being able to get their tickets back.”

“At first I thought she was joking, and then I was very upset,” said the friend.

She’s one of the biggest stars on the planet. Taylor Swift concerts are both must-sees and costly, with some spending thousands to see the pop star in person.

“It’s insane,” said Nakia Mills of the Better Business Bureau. “We were making friendship bracelets to trade at the concert. We had our room ready and what we were going to wear.”

The tickets purchased on Ticketmaster were supposed to be in Parham’s Apple wallet, but they were gone.

Earlier this year, Ticketmaster was hacked, and just like Parham, fans with tickets saw them vanish.

–> 4 Berkley teens fall victim to $1,200 Taylor Swift ticket scam

Watch the video above for the full story.

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Detroit, MI

Former Detroit Pistons All-Star Makes Bold Claim

Published

21 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

Former Detroit Pistons All-Star Makes Bold Claim

It takes a special kind of confidence to thrive in the NBA. Former Detroit Pistons All-Star Andre Drummond certainly possesses the trait that helps him navigate through this next phase of his career without worrying about losing value in the areas he thrives.

Heading into year 13, Drummond remains confident in the fact that he’s one of the NBA’s best rebounders.

Scratch that…

Andre Drummond wants the world to know he is the best rebounder. Period.

“I’m the best rebounder to ever play the game,” Drummond told reporters in Philly earlier this week.

In case people didn’t hear him the first time, the former Piston made himself clear.

“Do you want me to say that again? You want to record that? Yeah, I’m the best rebounder ever…ever.”

As the Philadelphia 76ers entered the free agency market this past summer, they looked to patch up their rebounding issue by acquiring Drummond for a second stint. They got the guy with the right mindset.

During his Detroit days, Drummond starred in multiple areas of the game, but his value on the boards was so obvious. The 2015-2016 season was the first time Drummond led the league in rebounds per game with 14.8. While he fell off the top the following year, he reclaimed the title in 2017-2018 with a career-high 16 rebounds per game.

He won the title two more times. By the time Drummond left the Pistons, he had routed with two All-Star appearances, an All-NBA Third Team nod, and four rebounding leader titles.

For the last few seasons, Drummond has accepted roles as a backup center. It started with the Sixers in 2021 when he joined forces with Joel Embiid. While Drummond started for a short stint on the Brooklyn Nets, he came off the bench for 67 games with the Chicago Bulls in 2022-2023. He was a reserve for all but ten games last year.

Drummond enters his second stint with the Sixers keeping the same confidence he possessed in Detroit. The 31-year-old still believes he’s a starting-caliber big man. He might get scattered starts in the absence of Embiid over time, but Drummond is embracing a role off the bench for the 2024-2025 season.