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What it is : Uranus and 14 of its 27 moons
When it was taken : Dec. 18 , 2023
Uranus, its rings and 14 of its moons, as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared camera.
Where it is:1.8 billion mil ( 2.9 billion kilometers ) from the sun
Why it ’s so special : This photo ofUranus , captured by theJames Webb Space Telescope , break the ice giant planet in recherche detail . The wide - field trope shows Uranus ' rings , a arctic ice jacket crown , 14 of the planet ’s 27 moons , scope stars and wandflower .
Theclose - up look-alike , snapped by JWST ’s Near Infrared Camera and released byNASAthis week , is a come - up toa solidification of photos taken in February . The Modern image feature an extra wavelength of brightness level , revealing a hidden ring . Although Uranus is known to have 13 distinct intimate and forbidden rings , NIRCam revealed the major planet ’s elusive " Zeta ring , " a faint , diffuse ring draw close near to the major planet .
Of Uranus ' 27 Sun Myung Moon , 14 are featured in this range : Oberon , Titania , Umbriel , Juliet , Perdita , Rosalind , Puck , Belinda , Desdemona , Cressida , Ariel , Miranda , Bianca and Portia .
It ’s a much more elaborated opinion of Uranus thanhumankind ’s first tight - upof the 7th major planet , taken by NASA ’s Voyager 2 investigation in 1986 . That featureless image showed a solid blue ball with no detail . JWST , by contrast , has captured atmospherical feature such as a north diametrical cloud chapiter . That growing and pull back detonator is bewitching to planetary scientist because it ’s visible grounds that Uranus spins on an axis cant by 98 degrees , raise seasonal and meteorological issue that create storms .
Uranus takes 84 Earth days to orbit the Sunday once . That dull orbit , plus the extreme tilt of Uranus , mean the water ice giant experience extreme seasons , with the polar crown seeable in the epitome ensue from its north polar region being in the depths of a 21 worldly concern - year - long winter that will end in 2028 .
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Dozens of background galaxy are visible in this wide - field image . Most have an orange tint , but if you appear to the right of Uranus , you ’ll see two sizable white coiling galaxy .
In October , scientists at the University of Leicester in the U.K. published a newspaper publisher in the journalNature Astronomyrevealing the front of infrared aurorae around Uranus .
In April 2022 , a Decadal Survey report by the National Academy of Sciences recommended that NASA probe the aura , clouds and storms of the turquoise major planet as part of the Uranus Orbiter and Probe Flagship deputation .
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