Strange weather phenomenon: A summer that lasts 21 years and temperatures below -190°C!

Arab Weather - Although it is not the farthest planet from the sun in the solar system, Uranus is considered the coldest planet known to date, with temperatures dropping to -224 degrees Celsius, a number close to absolute zero, the lowest temperature possible in physics!

This extreme cold comes not only from its great distance from the Sun, but also from its unique internal properties. Unlike other giant planets like Jupiter and Neptune, Uranus emits little internal heat, making it a "cold inside and out" planet.

In this frozen world, the sun only warms most of its regions every few decades, and there is no mild season to break the harsh climate. Rather, it is a planet living between a long, dark night and a very cold day.

Steep inclination controls the seasons

Uranus orbits the sun once every 84 Earth years, but what's surprising is its extreme tilt: its axis is tilted by nearly 98 degrees, causing it to spin as if it were "lying on its side." This extreme tilt has a direct impact on the planet's climate, transforming each hemisphere into a season lasting decades.

Only two seasons... summer and winter, lasting 21 Earth years!

As a result of this sharp tilt, Uranus does not experience four seasons as Earth does, but only two long ones:

Temperatures reached minus 190 degrees Celsius in the summer for 21 years!

A freezing summer lasting 21 Earth years, during which the sun shines without setting on half the planet, temperatures remain relatively low, never exceeding -190 degrees Celsius (-190 degrees Fahrenheit), despite constant exposure to sunlight. During this period, the atmosphere is believed to experience gaseous currents, methane clouds form, and local storms may occur in some regions due to pressure and temperature differences.

A colder winter with temperatures of 224 degrees below zero!

A long winter lasting another 21 years, during which the sun disappears completely from the other half of the planet, causing those regions to experience a prolonged polar night, with temperatures dropping to around -224 degrees Celsius (-224 degrees Fahrenheit), among the lowest recorded temperatures in the solar system. Atmospheric activity during this season is believed to be concentrated in the upper layers of the atmosphere, where jet streams continue to move despite the darkness and frost.

Spring and autumn are merely short transitional periods that do not cause major climate changes, and their effects remain limited in light of the long summer and winter.

Violent winds disrupt the tranquility of Uranus

Despite this seemingly static and boring landscape, Uranus' atmosphere is teeming with activity. Astronomical data record extremely strong winds that can reach 900 km/h, especially in the equatorial regions and upper layers of the atmosphere.

This atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium gases, as well as methane, which absorbs red light and reflects blue, giving the planet its distinctive sky color.

Gas vortices and hidden storms

Despite the scarcity of data, Voyager 2 and some ground-based telescopes have observed dark spots and massive gas vortices on Uranus, somewhat similar to the storms seen on Neptune. These atmospheric systems are believed to be formed by temperature and pressure differences deep within the dense atmosphere, creating massive disturbances that may remain stable for years.

Uranus remains one of the least studied planets to date, and our data on it is still limited. In the absence of recent exploration missions, the climate of this giant planet remains an open mystery, waiting to be explored and uncovered more about this tilted giant, which conceals within it the secrets of unbearable cold and weather unlike anything else we know.