Initially came a set of images from the farthest corners of space. Then a stellar shot of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Now, officials from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have released a set of new images captured by the Webb Space Telescope. This time, the observatory took a look at Neptune, capturing the ice giant in its full glory, its rings and everything.
“It’s been three decades since we last saw these faint, dusty rings, and this is the first time we’ve seen them in infrared,” web scientist Heidi Hamill says in the new NASA blog. In the image released by the agency, Neptune with its massive rings and at least four of the planet’s 14 moons can be seen.
Oh Neptune. Did you call 👋
Webb’s latest image is the clearest look at Neptune’s rings in more than 30 years, and the first time we’ve seen them in infrared light. Enjoy ghostly and ethereal web views of the planet, dust bands, rings, and moons: https://t.co/Jd09henF1F # IAC2022 pic.twitter.com/17QNXj23ow
– NASA’s Web Telescope (NASAWebb) September 21 2022
The NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) webcam captured the images, showing Neptune brighter than its traditional dark blue color due to the technology used at the observatory.
Web Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images objects in the near-infrared range from 0.6 to 5 microns, so Neptune does not appear in Webb’s blue. In fact, methane absorbs red and infrared light so strongly that the planet is completely dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where there are high-altitude clouds, NASA explains. and spots that reflect sunlight before it is absorbed by methane.”
The agency adds, “More accurately, the thin line of brightness that circles the planet’s equator could be a visual marker of the global atmospheric cycle that fuels Neptune’s winds and storms. The atmosphere decreases and warms at the equator, thus glowing at infrared wavelengths.” more than the cooler surrounding gases.”
Neptune is about 30 times farther from the sun than Earth. This means that the brightest part of a day on Neptune is as bright as the faint twilights on our planet.
For more images from the Webb Space Telescope and other cosmic stories, check out the ComicBook Invasion Center here.
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