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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 3018      2014 Aug 09 10.43UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK      Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk
WORLD WIDE WEB                         http://www.theastronomer.org
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URANUS
Paul Abel has drawn our attention to various storms on the planet Uranus and
the following notes are from the W. M. Keck Observatory.

In the past few days, astronomers were surprised by a multitude of bright
storms on the planet, including one monstrous feature. 
"We are always anxious to see that first image of the night of any planet or
satellite, as we never know what it might have in store for us," said Imke
de Pater, professor at UC Berkeley and team leader. "This extremely bright
feature we saw on 2014 August 6 reminds me of a similarly bright storm we
saw on Uranus's southern hemisphere during the years leading up to and at
equinox". 
Since the 2007 equinox, Uranus's northern pole has been coming into view,
and the south pole is no longer visible. The bright feature de Pater refers
to was known as the "Berg", because this feature was visible just below the
polar haze, and resembled an iceberg peeled off an ice-shelf. The Berg
oscillated in latitude between southern latitudes of 32 and 36 degrees since
2000, and perhaps dated back to the Voyager era (1986). In 2004 it became
much brighter; in 2005 it started to migrate towards the equator and became
a very powerful storm system. In 2009, when it came to within a few degrees
of the equator, it dissipated. 
The present storm is even brighter than the Berg. Its morphology is rather
similar, and the team expects it may also be tied to a vortex in the deeper
atmosphere. From near-infrared images taken at 2.2 micron, the team already
determined that the storm must reach high altitudes; they will conduct
calculations to determine the precise altitude, but based upon its
brightness at those wavelengths the team expects it to reach altitudes near
the tropopause.

Editor: These features on Uranus may be quite challenging but please send
any reports to Dr. Mark Kidger, Planetary Editor of 'The Astronomer'.

Guy M Hurst