The recently-troubled Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a giant swirling, dark vortex on Uranus.
Peering 3.2 billion km into space, Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys snapped the photos on August 23. The dark spot indicates a massive storm on the alien planet's surface that is large enough to engulf two-thirds of the United States.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers report the spot measures 1,700 km by 3,000 km. The image is a composite of three cameras that comprise Hubble's main viewing device.
Hubble trouble
Since taking the image, Hubble's primary camera has experienced technical difficulties.
The three-channel camera shut down after losing power on Sept. 23. Since then, one of the three channels have been restored.
Telescope managers redirected power to get the Wide Field Channel to work again.
Power is unable to reach the other two channels. NASA is not sure why.