NASA Shows Neptune’s Clearest Sighting Through Telescope
LANGIT7.ID, Jakarta – The James Webb Space Telescope captured the beauty of the universe. James Webb recently produced images of the farthest planet in the solar system, Neptune.
In the image shared by NASA, it appears that James Webb succeeded in capturing Neptune and its rings. This image is also called by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the clearest sight in 30 years or 1989.
In addition to the ring that appears bright, James Webb also clearly shows the faint band of Neptune. “It’s been three decades since we last saw this faint, dusty ring, and this is the first time we’ve seen it in infrared,” said Heidi Hamill, a Neptune systems expert and interdisciplinary scientist at Webb. / 2022).
NASA Shows Neptune’s Clearest Sighting Through Telescope
Neptune is an ice giant because the chemical composition of hydrogen, helium and some methane is very high compared to Jupiter and Saturn. This results in the icy blue appearance of Neptune when viewed in the light spectrum.
However, James Webb took images of Neptune with his near-infrared camera (NIRCam) in the 0.6 to 5 micron range, so it’s not much darker. Because the powerful gas methane absorbs red and infrared light, Neptune appears darker in the James Webb wave.
The thin, bright ring that surrounds Neptune is a sign of the circulation of the atmosphere that drives winds and storms on the planet. This image of Neptune, taken by James Webb, shows bright streaks and spots that reflect sunlight before it is absorbed by methane.
