Question

very little was known about neptune and its atmosphere until voyager 2 arrived at the planet in 1989. voyager revealed a banded cloud structure and a storm that was called the great dark spot. neptune’s axis is tilted similar to earth’s. neptune therefore exhibits seasonal changes. however, the seasons on neptune last for decades, not months as on earth. in fact, neptune has only completed one orbit of the sun since its discovery in 1843. it is remarkable that neptune exhibits any evidence of seasonal change at all, given that the sun, as viewed from the planet, is 900 times dimmer than it is from earth. still, hubble has been able to observe such changes. hubble’s near - infrared capabilities allow the telescope to observe high - altitude clouds on neptune that are useful for tracking seasonal changes. in fact, hubble images taken in the late 1990s showing that cloud bands on neptune were getting wider and brighter were considered the first observational evidence that the planet undergoes a change of seasons. in 2002, astronomers using hubble noted that the abundance of high - altitude clouds increased the planet’s brightness from observations made in the late 1990s. astronomers consider this brightness increase a sign of seasonal change. hubble studies show that neptune has a nearly constant brightness at low latitudes (near the equator). this supports the idea that the observed changes are seasonal in nature because seasonal effects would be minimal near the equator and most evident at high latitudes.

Explanation:

Since the problem isn't clearly stated (like a question about the text, e.g., analyzing a claim, summarizing, etc.), I'll assume a common type of question here, like explaining the reasoning in the highlighted sentence.

The highlighted sentence argues that Neptune's seasonal - like changes are truly seasonal. It uses the fact that at low latitudes (near equator), Neptune's brightness is nearly constant. Seasonal effects are known to be minimal near the equator (where sunlight angle change is less) and more evident at high latitudes. So the consistent brightness at equator and changing at other latitudes matches what's expected of seasonal changes, supporting the idea the observed changes are seasonal.

Answer:

The sentence supports that Neptune's changes are seasonal by noting low - latitude (equator - near) brightness is constant (seasonal effects are minimal near equator, more at high latitudes), matching seasonal change expectations.