James Webb Captures Clearest View Of Neptune's Rings In Over 30 Years

The Webb also captured seven of Neptune's 14 known moons.

NASA took to Twitter to share the recently released James Webb Space Telescope images with the world. The picture features Neptune and its rings. According to the American space agency, Webb has not just captured the clearest view of this distant planet's rings since the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by it in 1989, but its cameras reveal the ice giant in a whole new light.   Hey Neptune. Did you ring? 👋Webb's latest image is the clearest look at Neptune's rings in 30+ years, and our first time seeing them in infrared light. Take in Webb's ghostly, ethereal views of the planet and its dust bands, rings and moons: https://t.co/Jd09henF1F#IAC2022pic.twitter.com/17QNXj23ow

In a NASA release, Heidi Hammel, a Neptune system expert and interdisciplinary scientist for Webb, said, “It has been three decades since we last saw these faint, dusty rings, and this is the first time we've seen them in the infrared." The images perfectly capture the faint rings of the planet.  

It was discovered by researchers in 1846 and since then it has fascinated and perplexed researchers. Did you know, Neptune is located 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth? It orbits in the remote, dark region of the outer solar system. For Neptune, the sun is so distant, small and faint that it appears as a dim twilight. The planet is characterised as an ice giant because its interiors are made up of chemicals. Compared to gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, ice giant Neptune is much richer in elements that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. And it appears blue due to small amounts of gaseous methane.  

Check out the tweet here: