The James Webb Space Telescope has once again demonstrated its capabilities by photographing Neptune and its rings. These are the clearest images of the distant planet’s rings in more than three decades since they were photographed during the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989.

Some of Neptune’s dynamic rings are being photographed for the first time, while others have never been seen so clearly before. Neptune, which is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth, has fascinated astronomers since its discovery in 1846. It takes 164 years to complete one revolution around the Sun (this is the length of its year).

The planet is classified as an ice giant and, compared to the other two giant planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, is much richer in chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Webb also photographed seven of Neptune’s 14 known moons, most notably Triton, which is covered in frozen condensed nitrogen and reflects about 70% of the sunlight that hits it, making it appear much brighter than Neptune itself. Further observations of Neptune and Triton by Webb are scheduled for 2023.

The James Webb Space Telescope was developed by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Canadian CSA. As with the Hubble Space Telescope, European scientists agreed to be entitled to at least 15% of the total observing time with Webb.

Source: RES-IPE