Uranus has never looked better. Really.
Webb's first glimpse at this ice giant highlights bright atmospheric features, as well as 11 of the planet’s 13 rings. Only Voyager 2 and Keck (with adaptive optics) have imaged the planet's faintest rings before, and never as clearly as this.
Uranus rotates on its side, causing its poles to experience 42 years of sunlight and 42 years of darkness. (It takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.) When Voyager flew by Uranus in 1986, it was summer at its south pole. Currently, the south pole is out of view, facing the darkness of space.
Check out the polar cap (bright white area) on the right side of the image. Webb reveals a subtle enhanced brightening at its center. This polar cap appears in the direct sunlight of summer and vanishes in the fall. Webb's data will help us to understand this mystery.
This was only a 12-minute exposure image! And It's just the tip of the ice(planet)berg for what Webb will uncover. Read more and check out a bonus image showing the moons of Uranus in the comment section.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, with image processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
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Image description: The planet Uranus is on a black background just left of center. It is colored light blue and displays a large, white patch on the right side as well as two bright spots and a surrounding system of nested rings oriented vertically. Just below the planet at the 7-o’clock position is a faint blue point labeled Puck. Brighter blue points at 8 o’clock, 5 o’clock, and 3 o’clock are labeled Ariel, Miranda, and Umbriel, respectively. Farther from the planet, two additional blue points at 7 o’clock and 5 o’clock are labeled Titania and Oberon. Faint orange smudges are scattered in the background.
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