WASHINGTON—It is a world wrapped in mystery—the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, seen up close just once nearly four decades ago by a passing NASA probe and still warily guarding its secrets.
But new observations from a telescope located in New Mexico are providing a fuller understanding of its atmosphere, including the detection of a polar cyclone whose center measures a quarter of Earth’s diameter, swirling near its north pole.
Scientists were able to gaze more deeply into the atmosphere of Uranus—a planet classified as an ice giant, like its planetary neighbor Neptune—than ever before. The findings painted a picture of a planet more dynamic than previously known….