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The image shows in extraordinary detail some of the 13 known rings of Uranus. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale, STScI).
The rings of this icy giant in our solar system have never been seen this clearly before.
NASA has released this new image of Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
When the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, its camera showed a nearly featureless blue-green sphere.
But infrared wavelengths and Webb’s sensitivity instead reveal stunning rings and data from the planet’s atmosphere, according to the US space agency.
Uranus has unique characteristics in the solar system. It is the only planet that rotates on its side.at an angle of approximately 90 degrees from the plane of its orbit.
This causes extreme seasons as the planet’s poles experience years of continuous sunlight followed by an equal number of years of complete darkness.
A day on Uranus lasts 17 hours and 14 minutes (the time it takes to rotate on itself). But in a year, the time it takes to complete one orbit around the sun, equals 84 Earth years (30,687 Earth days).
image source, a pot
This broader view of the Uranus system using Webb’s NIRCam instrument shows the planet Uranus, as well as six of its 27 known moons. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale, STScI)
Uranus has it 13 known episodes And 11 of them are shown in this Webb photo. Some rings are so bright they look like one larger ring.
The image also reveals some files 27 known moons of UranusAlthough most of them are too small to be seen here.
ice giant
Uranus consists mostly of liquid ice on a solid core.
Neptune and Uranus are called ice giants because although they are also gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn, they are mostly composed of Frozen water, methane and ammonia.
The planet shows a blue hue in the representative color version image, which was created by merging data from two filters.
In the image, the region shining at the pole facing the sun, known as the polar cap, can be seen on the planet’s right side.
The mechanism by which this cap appears when the pole enters direct sunlight in the summer and disappears in the fall remains a mystery.
At the edge of the polar cap is a bright cloud, and there is another bright cloud to the far left of the planet. Both clouds are likely associated with storms.
The image is the result The exhibition is only 12 minutes long Uranus with candidates. It’s just the tip of the iceberg that the James Webb telescope can reveal about the planet, according to NASA.
image source, a pot
The bright clouds are likely related to storm activity, according to NASA (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale, STScI).
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Grace Montgomery writes for News Collective, covering news, politics, business, technology, sport, entertainment, and lifestyle. She focuses on clear, reliable reporting and useful information, helping readers stay informed about current events, emerging trends, and stories that matter.