The planet identical to the ring that surrounds it does not belong only to Saturn. Recently, telescope James Webb (JWST) captures the moment Neptune ringed.
This is the first image that Webb obtained of Neptune.
Quoted from the US space agency website (NASA), Webb not only captured the sharpest view of the planet’s rings. The camera is also capable of revealing the image of the giant frozen planet in a whole new light.
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Most striking in Webb’s new image is the crisp display of planetary rings, some of which have not been detected since NASA’s Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe Neptune in 1989.
What seems to be missing from the Neptune JWST image is special blue color attributed to the ice giant from the photo taken by Hubble Space Telescope.
Quoted by Spaceaside from a few visible light rings, Webb’s image clearly shows a fainter band of Neptune dust.
“It’s been three decades since we’ve seen this faint, dusty link, and this is the first time we’ve seen it in infrared,” said Heidi Hammel, a Neptune systems expert and interdisciplinary scientist for Webb.
According to him, Webb’s very stable and precise image quality allowed him to detect a faint ring so close to Neptune.
Neptune, located 4.3-4.7 billion kilometers from Earth, has fascinated researchers since its discovery in 1846.
The eighth planet of the Solar System orbits in a remote and dark outer region. At extreme distances, the Sun is so small and dim that noon on Neptune is similar to sunset on Earth.
It is characterized as an ice giant due to the chemical composition of its interior. Compared to the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune is much richer in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
This is clearly seen in Neptune’s distinctive blue appearance in Hubble Space Telescope images at visible wavelengths, caused by small amounts of methane gas.
Webb’s NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) captures objects in the near infrared range of 0.6 to 5 microns, so Neptune does not appear blue to Webb.
In fact, methane gas absorbs red and infrared light so strongly that the planet is quite dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where there are clouds at high altitudes.
The JWST image also highlights a continuous band of high-latitude clouds surrounding a vortex formerly known to be located at Neptune’s south pole.
A thin, faint streak of brightness can also be seen around the planet’s equator, which could indicate the global circulation of Neptune’s atmosphere pushing winds and storms through the ice giant.
(can / arh)
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