Webb Space Telescope captures Neptune’s rings the clearest ever | Satellite | Epoch Times

[Epoch Times, September 21, 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Chen Juncun) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently released its JamesWeberspace telescope(First captured by James Webb Space Telescope)Neptunepicture.Neptune in this picturehaloIt’s the clearest we’ve seen in decades.

According to a report on NASA’s website on September 21, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by in 1989Neptuneand observe.Over the next thirty years, Neptune’shalohas not been fully detected.while inWeberspace telescopeAmong the pictures taken this time, Neptune’s narrow halo is the most eye-catching highlight.

“It’s been 30 years since we last saw these dim, dusty rings,” said Heidi Hammel, a scientist with the Webb Space Telescope and an expert on the Neptune system. See them in infrared light.”

Scientists have been studying Neptune since 1846. It is a planet in the outer solar system, very far from the sun. Viewed from Neptune, the sun is small and blurry, like the dim shimmer seen on Earth.

Neptune is classified as an ice giant due to the chemical composition of its interior. Compared to the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune contains more elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Neptune appears blue in visible light images from the Hubble Space Telescope, caused by small amounts of gaseous methane.

Neptune is blue as seen in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA)

There are 14 known Neptunessatellite. Seven of them were captured by the Webb Space Telescope. A very bright point of light at the top of the image is not a star, but Neptune’s largest moon, Triton.

Neptune
Webb Space Telescope captures 7 of Neptunesatellite。(NASA)

Triton orbits Neptune in a rare retrograde orbit, which is in the opposite direction of the planet’s rotation. Astronomers therefore speculate that Triton was originally a celestial body in the Kuiper belt (the Kuiper belt, which is located outside the orbit of Neptune, similar to the asteroid belt), but was gravitationally captured by Neptune.

Neptune’s orbital period is 164 years. This means that scientists can’t see its north pole (at the top of the image), but the Webb Space Telescope image shows an attractive glow in the area. The vortex at its south pole is clearly visible in the picture, and scientists have previously known that there is a vortex here.

Responsible editor: Sun Yun#

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