There is a new storm the size of the U.S. churning on Neptune
A large, dark vortex the size of the continental United States roils in Neptune's atmosphere according to new photos snapped by a powerful telescope in space.
The Hubble telescope confirmed the new storm in May 2016, and it marks the first time a new storm has been seen on the cold, gaseous planet in the outer solar system in the 21st century, according to NASA.
The storm itself is dark and marked by "bright companion clouds" which have been seen during other storms on Neptune as well, NASA added. Scientists think the clouds are produced when gas freezes into methane ice above the storm.
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"Dark vortices coast through the atmosphere like huge, lens-shaped gaseous mountains. And the companion clouds are similar to so-called orographic clouds that appear as pancake-shaped features lingering over mountains on Earth," University of California Berkeley astronomer Mike Wong, who helped confirm the new storm, said in a statement.
Scientists started seeing the clouds on Neptune in July 2015, according to NASA, but it took until May for researchers to confirm the vortex that created them with Hubble data.
This is at least the third dark vortex researchers have seen on Neptune.
In 1989, as Voyager 2 flew past the large planet it beamed back images of a dark cloud in the world's southern hemisphere. Then, in 1994, the Hubble telescope caught sight of another spot.
"Neptune's dark vortices have exhibited surprising diversity over the years, in terms of size, shape, and stability (they meander in latitude, and sometimes speed up or slow down)," NASA said in the statement.
"They also come and go on much shorter timescales compared to similar anticyclones seen on Jupiter; large storms on Jupiter evolve over decades."
Scientists like hunting for storms in space because of what it can tell them about planetary processes out in the solar system. Finding a new dark vortex will let researchers learn more about the evolution of those storms on Neptune, NASA added.
And Hubble might have plenty more discoveries like this yet to come.
NASA just extended the space telescope's science operations for another five years, keeping it operational until at least June 30, 2021.
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Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
