Nearly all of the ice giant Uranus’ weak, dusty rings may be seen in a new, spectacular image of Uranus taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The image is an example of the telescope’s high sensitivity, according to NASA, as only the Voyager 2 spacecraft and the W.M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaii have previously been able to photograph the fainter rings.
Remarkable Images of Uranus and its 13 Rings
11 of Uranus’ 13 recognized rings can be seen in the most recent Webb image.
The last two rings, which are harder to record due to their dusty makeup, were found after the Voyager 2 mission’s flyby in 1986, the major rings are classed as nine rings.
Two additional, faint outer rings were discovered in 2007 from photos collected by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, but they are not visible in this most recent view; scientists predict Webb will eventually be able to see them.
According to experts, all 13 rings will be visible in future Webb images.
Rowe-Gurney believes the telescope will provide new information about Uranus’ atmospheric composition, expanding our knowledge of the odd gas giant.
The space observatory’s powerful Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) can see infrared light that is invisible to the naked eye.
Uranus rotates completely in 84 years and is 1.8 billion miles (almost 3 billion kilometers) from our sun.
In contrast to Saturn’s horizontal ring system, this planet’s inclination makes its rings appear vertically from Earth.
NASA has previously noted that when Uranus’ north pole is in direct sunlight during the summer, a brilliant haze surrounds it.
NASA reports that the brightness of the haze in the atmosphere increases annually.
Scientists are still investigating the polar cap using telescope photographs like this recent Webb image, even if the particular source of the haze is unknown.
In the earliest images of Uranus provided by Voyager 2, the planet appeared to be nothing more than a round, blue dot.
This new Webb image, like others taken recently by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows a band of storm clouds at the polar cap’s edge.
Astronomers are able to observe and describe how Uranus’ tilt influences the severe seasons and stormy weather it generates by comparing telescopic views taken at different times.
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The NASA Hubble Space Telescope
As compared to photographs from previous years, the NASA Hubble Space Telescope’s November image of Uranus’ dazzling white polar cap highlighted the haze’s increasing brightness.
The polar cap is depicted more precisely in the new Webb image than it is in the Hubble image, with more dramatic storm clouds visible around the margins and a modest brightening in the cap’s center.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hope to zero in on Uranus as a research priority by the year 2022.
According to a NASA statement issued after the news broke, additional research into Uranus is already underway and will continue throughout Webb’s first year of science operations.
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