Most textbook images of Uranus appear as a featureless, bright blue ball.
But the James Webb Space Telescope, a landmark new observatory that senses light at invisible infrared wavelengths, is allowing astronomers to see Planet Seven from the Sun for what it is: a world crowned with glorious rings.
NASA scientists say Uranus’ rings were only captured by two other cameras. It was first spotted by the Voyager 2 spacecraft when it passed by in 1986. Later, the Keck Observatory in Hawaii spied the planet’s ring system using advanced adaptive optics technology. The new space image follows Webb’s image of Neptune last year, which also revealed ghostly rings around another ice giant within the solar system.
“The JWST is a circular machine,” Stephanie Milam, a NASA planetary scientist, said in a video shared by the Museum of Science in Boston. “This is one of the first times we’ve seen Uranus’ rings in a very long time. They’re really, really hard to see, and that’s because they’re made of ice and dust.”
New images of Neptune from Webb reveal spooky and startling rings
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Uranus is also made of “ice” materials, such as water, methane, and ammonia, wrapped around a small, rocky core. that it The only planet in the solar system is tilted(Opens in a new tab) so that the equator is at almost a right angle to its orbit, causing extreme seasons. For Uranus, it takes 84 years to make a trip around the sun, which means it spends long periods in continuous sunlight and complete darkness.
Right now, the planet, about two billion miles from Earth, is experiencing late spring at its north pole, as shown in the image. new photo(Opens in a new tab). Its northern summer will begin in five years. when Voyager 2 visited Uranus(Opens in a new tab) Decades ago, it was summer at its southern pole. The South Pole is now out of sight and facing the darkness of space.
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How many rings does Uranus have?
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Uranus has 13 known rings, 11 of which are visible in the new image. Some of these rings are so bright for Webb that when they are close together, they seem to merge into a larger ring. Nine are considered the planet’s main rings, and two are the faint dusty rings discovered by Voyager 2. Scientists expect future web images of the planet to reveal other outer rings, according to a feature by Space Telescope Science Institute(Opens in a new tab) in Baltimore.
“JWST is a loop machine.”
These vivid images captured within this solar system demonstrate the $10 billion space telescope’s ability to gather extraordinary data not only on the distant universe – its main purpose – but on celestial bodies closer to home. Scientists believe Webb will usher in a golden age in our understanding of the universe.
Webb found that there is a hidden, bright spot at the pole in the sun, known as the Polar cover(Opens in a new tab). This polar cap is apparently unique to Uranus. It appears when the pole enters direct sunlight in the summer and disappears in the fall, according to NASA. New telescope observations will help researchers understand what is going on and how it works.
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Jesse Christiansen, a NASA planetary scientist, was upset by the new image of Uranus, but shared side-by-side photos of Saturn and the ice giant on social media to compare the sizes of their ring systems.
I cautioned in a tweet last week not to completely blow up your previous notions about the ringed planets in this solar system.
“Saturn is still the Queen of the Rings!” She said.
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”