SEE IT: Stunning images of Uranus and its rings from NASA’s Webb telescope
Jack Birle
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NASA unveiled stunning new images of Uranus captured by its James Webb telescope. The images show the rings around the distant planet.
The zoomed-in image was taken with the telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera on Feb. 6, 2023, and it displays 11 of the planet’s 13 rings.
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The planet’s polar cap and clouds can be seen in the image. The bright blue hue of the planet is also visible.
“At the edge of the polar cap lies a bright cloud as well as a few fainter extended features just beyond the cap’s edge, and a second very bright cloud is seen at the planet’s left limb. Such clouds are typical for Uranus in infrared wavelengths, and likely are connected to storm activity,” NASA said in a release.
“This planet is characterized as an ice giant due to the chemical make-up of its interior. Most of its mass is thought to be a hot, dense fluid of ‘icy’ materials – water, methane, and ammonia – above a small rocky core,” it added.
In a wider shot, several of the planet’s moons are visible. Uranus has 27 known moons, with the space agency highlighting the six brightest in an image released on Thursday.
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NASA has previously revealed images of star duos, Neptune, and Jupiter from the Webb telescope, providing detailed pictures that are significantly better than previous telescopes.
The telescope was launched into space in December 2021, and NASA has been releasing images captured by the telescope since July 2022.