Neptune has captivated astronomers all across the world since it was discovered on September 23, 1846. The ice giant, which is located in one of the darkest regions of our Solar System, completes a cycle around the Sun every 164.8 years. But those secrets will come to light when you shine the most potent space telescope ever created on something. The photos of Neptune's rings in this instance are the clearest in more than 30 years.
It's been challenging to regularly capture clean photographs of the planet because it is 30 times further from the Sun than Earth. Voyager 2 was the most recent spacecraft to pass the planet on its way to the end of our Solar System.
Astrophysicists have recently been reenergized by fresh JWST images that reveal aspects of the frozen world with clarity we have not seen in decades. Not only the magnificent rings, but also information about the planet itself, have been made public.
"Neptune's northern pole, near the top of this image, is just out of sight for astronomers due to its 164-year orbit, but the Webb images suggest an unusual brightness there. Webb's perspective reveals a previously unknown vortex at the southern pole, but for the first time Webb has shown a continuous band of clouds surrounding it "In a statement, the European Space Agency (ESA) gave an explanation.
Seven of the 14 known moons of Neptune were also precisely recorded in the new photos by JWST.
"The chemical composition of this planet's interior gives it the characteristics of an ice giant. Neptune is substantially richer in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium than the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. This is clearly visible in the visible wavelengths of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope photographs of Neptune, which exhibits its distinctive blue colour from minute amounts of gaseous methane "explained ESA.
But JWST can look farther into the cosmos than Hubble because it uses infrared light, which is easier to pass through cosmic dust and gas.
Neptune does not appear as blue to JWST as it does to Hubble when viewed with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which can image objects in the near-infrared spectrum between 0.6 and 5 microns. Instead, it appears to be fairly dark.
"In reality, the planet appears quite black at Webb wavelengths outside of regions with high-altitude clouds because the methane gas is so powerfully absorbing. These bright streaks and spots of methane-ice clouds are noticeable because they reflect sunlight before it is absorbed by methane gas. These quickly changing cloud structures have been captured in images from several observatories over time." ESA clarified.
The most recent JWST photographs serve as a reminder that there are still many mysteries to be solved in our own cosmic backyard, and Webb will undoubtedly contribute to these in the years to come.
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