3/5/2023 0 Comments Neptunes unique features![]() (I know, right? Those classic illustrations of the solar system really left a lot out.) Astronomers discovered faint bands around Uranus using ground-based observations in 1977, and NASA’s Voyager mission revealed the same around Jupiter in 1979. After all, Saturn had them, and so, it turned out, did Uranus and Jupiter. Scientists imagined that Neptune might have rings well before they had any evidence. We’ve never seen Neptune and its rings like this before. And already, that promise is being fulfilled. This was part of the promise of the Webb mission: As the telescope searched the depths of the universe for the faintest, earliest galaxies, it would also provide an entirely new view of our cosmic neighborhood. The observatory that produced the image, the James Webb Space Telescope, works in infrared wavelengths, so Neptune resembles a spooky crystal ball dipped in dry ice rather than its usual, striking cobalt-blue self. There they are, a pair of delicate bands encircling a shimmery marble, the whole ensemble doing its best impression of Saturn. ![]() So I wanted to present this information to you, and let it sink in a little bit, before getting into the news of the day: Astronomers have directed their best space telescope at Neptune and captured the clearest view of its rings in more than 30 years. But for those of us who have certain textbook images of the solar system in our mind, the knowledge that Neptune is a ringed planet might come as a surprise. ![]() Planetary scientists know this, as do hard-core astronomy fans, probably. The planet we’re now told is the farthest from us has a set of narrow bands made of dust. ![]()
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