Page 54 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

The Scooter
Small Dark Spot
Great Dark Spot
 The Great Dark Spot on Neptune, a severe storm
with white patches that may represent methane-ice clouds.
and just 50 degrees above absolute zero (–223°C), the increase in pressure toward the centre of the planet causes warming. Near the core it is probably about 7,000°C. Here the pressure is about five million times Earth’s atmospheric pressure.
In the outer atmosphere there is little movement of air between latitudes, and winds almost all blow parallel to the equator, some with amazing speeds. At about 20°S winds blow constantly at 700 m/s—the fastest winds known in the solar system. (An Earth tornado may reach 83 m/s, but only briefly.)
The great turbulence in the atmosphere produces storms of upwelling gases that can be seen as dark spots. The Great Dark Spot at 22°S is about the size of the Earth. There is a further Small Dark Spot at about 55°S.
Another important feature of the atmosphere is the bright streaks, nicknamed the Scooter. Each of the dark spots also has a companion bright streak. They may be methane-ice clouds.
Neptune has distinctive cloud layers, with high clouds of methane-ice crystals separated from a bigger and lower cloud bank. It is possible to see the shadow cast by the high cloud on the lower cloud banks.
 In between the Great Dark Spot and the Small Dark Spot lies the bright region called the Scooter.
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