James Webb takes precise pictures of Neptune
The famous James Webb telescope, which was recently launched, was able to take new and accurate pictures of the planet Neptune.
According to the BBC, the infrared instruments at the astronomical observatory have highlighted features that have not been seen with such clarity in terms of detail since the “Fuger 2” probe flew past the planet in 1989.
The features include the rings and circles of dust that surround the frozen giant planet. Scientists are also amazed by the different cloud structures, which should tell them something new about how Neptune's atmosphere works.
According to the report, seven of the giant planet's 14 moons lie behind the planet itself, the most important of which is Triton.
This is due to the fact that Neptune appears opaque in telescope images due to its absorption of methane at infrared wavelengths.
Triton reflects an average of 70% of the sun's rays that fall on its ice-covered surface.
Professor Lee Fletcher, from the University of Leicester, who attended the Europlanet science conference in Granada, Spain, told BBC News: "It's good to see how excited everyone is."
"The longer wavelengths are something new that can open a window into deeper distribution patterns, with a bright equatorial circle that looks a bit like the bright rings around Jupiter and Saturn," Fletcher added.
"Neptune's powerful storms are as active as ever, and the entire Neptune family is represented here, with those ringed moons and Triton," he added.
It revolves around the sun from a distance of approximately 4.5 billion kilometers, and it takes 164.8 years to complete its rotation. Like other distant giant planets in the solar system, its atmosphere contains a lot of hydrogen and helium. But there is a very strong presence of ice, water, ammonia and methane.
Neptune has a diameter of about 50,000 km, or nearly four times the diameter of Earth.
source:Websites