Home Space Space News Neptune isn’t really dark blue, new study demonstrates By Georgina Torbet Published January 7, 2024 ...

Neptune, long believed to be dark blue, is actually very pale like Uranus, scientists say. They used modern telescopes to re-assess artificially enhanced images taken by NASA's Voyager 2 probe.

Neptune, long believed to be dark blue, is actually very pale like Uranus, scientists say. They used modern telescopes to re-assess artificially enhanced images taken by NASA's Voyager 2 probe.

But in reality, Neptune is far more of a light greenish blue. It's actually pretty similar in color to its fellow ice giant Uranus, also visited by Voyager 2.

Think of Uranus and Neptune, the solar system’s outermost planets, and you may picture two distinct hues: pale turquoise and cobalt blue. But astronomers say that the true colors of these ...

Neptune is "less blue" now thanks to Hubble Images of Uranus and Neptune collected by Voyager 2 in 1986 and 1989 (top) compared with new, reprocessed images. (Image credit: Patrick Irwin) ...

Space Neptune isn't as blue as we thought it was An analysis of photos taken by Voyager 2 in the 1980s shows that Neptune and Uranus have a similar pale blue hue as perceived by the human eye By ...

Neptune and Uranus are so similar that scientists sometimes refer to the distant, icy planets as planetary twins. But these ice giants have one big difference: their color.

Neptune and Uranus are so similar that scientists sometimes refer to the distant, icy planets as planetary twins. But these ice giants have one big difference: their color.

A version of this article appears in print on June 7, 2022, Section D, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: Planetary Palettes: Why Uranus Is Blue, And Neptune Is Even Bluer.

In visible light (what we humans see), Neptune is a more intense blue than Uranus. What's weird is how similar the planets are to each other in terms of size, mass and the gases in their atmospheres.