The Hubble Space Telescope takes photographs of Uranus and helps scientists study its climate.
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Spring is no Picnic on Uranus
News story originally written on February 14, 2000
If you lived on Uranus, spring would probably not be your favorite season. Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists can study the planet's climate like never before. They came up with some surprising results.
On Earth, spring is often considered a favorite season. The snow is melted, the grass is green and the temperatures warm up. On Uranus, spring signals a time of violent storms and cold temperatures. There are hurricanes larger than half of the United States, and temperatures dip below -300 ° F!
"No one has ever seen this view in the modern era of
astronomy because of the long year of Uranus - more than
84 Earth years," Heidi Hammel of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology said in a statement.
Spring on Earth lasts for a few months. But on Uranus it won't be summer until the year 2007! This doesn't seem so bad when you compare it to the decades of winter the planet is leaving behind. Only one word comes to mind... Burr!
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