In a recent study, a team at Oxford University found that the true colours of Uranus and Neptune are very similar and not starkly different as was believed earlier. Scientists used data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to reveal that the ice planets are the same shade of greenish blue.
KnowALLedge Plus:
>Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in 1781, when he noticed a star-like object that moved with respect to the background stars. It was the first planet to be discovered since ancient times and was only possible with the invention of telescope.
>Neptune was discovered by Johann Gottfried Galle in 1846, following the calculations of Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams, who predicted its location based on the perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. Neptune was the first planet to be discovered by mathematical prediction rather than observation.
>The well-known depictions of the difference in shades of blue as seen in Uranus and Neptune stem from the images sent by Voyager 2 in the previous century. The blue colour is caused by the absorption of red light by methane in its upper atmosphere.