The James Webb Telescope Reveals A Stunning Photo Of Uranus And Its Rings
This photo released by NASA on December 18 shows Uranus. New image reveals the seventh planet from the Sun in such detail for the first time.
The new photo is bright and has a lot of detail. Thus, earlier this year, Uranus was imaged by Webb’s NIRCam camera at wavelengths of 1.4 and 3.0 microns. The new image was made using two more ranges: 2.1 and 4.6 microns. Webb’s sensitive sensors made it possible to distinguish even the inner, almost indistinguishable ring.
A bright area stands out on the planet itself – this is the northern polar cap or, more precisely, an aerosol suspension in the atmosphere in the form of ice crystals made of water, methane and other substances. This area is also subject to an active polar cyclone. It was observed for the first time this year. In the Webb images, you can see air vortices along the edges of the cyclone, which gives some idea of the processes in its atmosphere.
Also many of Uranus’ 27 moons are seen in picture.
Although the planet and its rings look magical, I don’t really want to live on it. Because Uranus rotates at a 98° tilt, the planet has some of the harshest seasonal conditions in our solar system. A year on Uranus is approximately equal to 64 Earth years, of which almost a quarter is illuminated by the Sun on only one side, while the other is plunged into dark winter.
