![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A previously-known vortex at the southern pole is evident in Webb's view, but for the first time Webb has revealed a continuous band of high-latitude clouds surrounding it. The atmosphere descends and warms at the equator, and thus glows at infrared wavelengths more than the surrounding, cooler gases, it said. Keck Observatory, have recorded these rapidly evolving cloud features over the years.Ī thin line of brightness circling the planet's equator could be a visual signature of global atmospheric circulation that powers Neptune's winds and storms, according to NASA. Images from other observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. The methane gas so strongly absorbs red and infrared light that the planet is quite dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present, the researchers said. Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images objects in the near-infrared range from 0.6 to 5 microns, so Neptune does not appear blue to the telescope. This is readily apparent in Neptune's signature blue appearance in Hubble Space Telescope images at visible wavelengths, caused by small amounts of gaseous methane. Compared to the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune is much richer in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The planet is characterised as an ice giant due to the chemical make-up of its interior. Neptune is located 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth, and orbits in the remote, dark region of the outer solar system. "It has been three decades since we last saw these faint, dusty rings, and this is the first time we have seen them in the infrared," Heidi Hammel, a Neptune system expert and interdisciplinary scientist for Webb said in a statement. ![]()
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