Inexplicable 'ghost' attacks planet near Earth

A vast dark area that has scientists baffled is growing and multiplying on a planet in our solar system, accompanied by a similarly puzzling bright spot nearby.

According to Space, the "ghost" is the development of a dark spot first seen by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, when it flew past Neptune in 1989.

Over the past 30 years, giant dark and bright spots on this planet have continued to grow and continue to baffle scientists.

Neptune's atmosphere is separated by MUSE, revealing many unusual details - (Photo: ESO).

Using the MUSE spectroscopic instrument of the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, Professor Patrick Irwin from the University of Oxford and colleagues focused on one of the mysterious dark spots in the planet's northern hemisphere .

This new observation refutes the previous theory that the dark spots are caused by clouds on the ice giant's surface; it also refutes the older theory that it resembles Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a giant storm that resembles a large red spot.

The dark spots are now about 10,000 to 15,000 kilometers in diameter, according to a presentation in the journal Science . There are also dark spots that have never been seen before.

Using MUSE to measure the reflected light, dividing the color components, the scientists discovered that these spots were not actually created by clouds.

Instead, it seems that the particles in this layer of the atmosphere are darker, emitting different wavelengths of light, resulting in dark spots.

The bright spot was seen at the same level in the atmosphere of the area where the dark spot had not appeared in observations a few weeks ago, suggesting it was something newly created.

So the answer is basically dead. But scientists hope that they can look to the composition of the atmosphere - where darker particles might be present - for clues.

Another theory is that Neptune's local heating is taking place, turning the hydrogen sulfide ice from a solid to a gas, releasing the clouds. But of course, there is no evidence to support this.

Scientists hope to move on to observe the planet, which is so close – compared to more than 5,000 other known planets outside the Solar System – that it remains shrouded in mystery.