Neptune, long believed to be dark blue, is actually very pale like Uranus, scientists say.
Related storiesFor decades, famous images from NASA's Voyager 2 mission have circulated showing Neptune in a deep azure tone.
Side-by-side comparison of the Voyager 2 images of Neptune and Uranus as reprocessed by scientists at the University of Oxford.
Voyager 2's images of Uranus, from 1986, however, were published in a form closer to "true" color, he added.
Neptune is just a touch bluer, which the researchers attribute to a thinner haze layer on the planet.
Persons:
—, Patrick Irwin, Neptune, Irwin
Organizations:
NASA's, Service, University of Oxford, Oxford, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Handout, Reuters, Guardian, Hubble, Southern