NASA’s James Webb Telescope has sent stunning images of Neptune’s rings from space.
Nasa recently made it to the headlines for launching one of the most sophisticated devices in space. This device was created after 7 years of hard work and named after NASA’s ex-president. Moreover, the amount of money spent on this device was also exhilarating.
This device was none other than NASA’s James Webb telescope.
This telescope has recently achieved a new feat by sending the most beautiful and detailed pictures of Neptune’s Rings to the earth. The last time scientists were able to witness the awe-striking beauty of Neptune’s rings was in 1989.
What is so special about the Neptune’s Rings?
According to NASA space scientists, Neptune was considered a blue, giant, and frosty planet. These observations were made on the basis of the pictures captured by the Hubble Telescope in the visible region range. But the images sent by the James Webb Telescope, which are solely in the infrared light region, show that Neptune is not a blue planet.
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Rather, the atmosphere of the planet is laden with toxic methane gas. Since methane is a good observer of high wavelength lights like red light from the visible spectrum of 700nm, the planet appears mostly blue due to the reflection of low wavelength light. This is not visible in the regions exceptionally covered by clouds in the high sky because the clouds absorb the sun’s rays, just like the earth’s atmosphere does.
When was the last time the picture was captured?
The images of Neptune’s rings were captured 33 years ago in 1989 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. This spacecraft was also launched by NASA on August 20, 1977. This space probe sent gorgeous images of the several light and dusty rings of the planet. The reports claim that when the space probe passed about 4,950 kilometers above Neptune’s north pole, it captured dark images of the planet and its rings.
Due to Voyager 2’s brief encounter with the planet, the captured images were slightly blurred and scientists couldn’t retrieve enough information from them. But the James Webb telescope’s powerful infrared and UV cameras have provided a crystal clear view of Neptune’s rings.
What is the Voyager 2 mission?
Voyager 2 was a space probe launched by the US Space Agency NASA on 20th August 1977. It was sent far away from the earth to study the other planets and deep space objects. It was meant to cross the sun’s heliosphere for deep space research. The sun’s heliosphere is the region beyond the asteroid belt present after the planet Neptune.
The spacecraft was meant to send the signals for as long as it could before the connections were ruptured due to the distance. Though, it is fascinating to note that the Voyager 2 was made extremely light and really fast so that it could travel to far-off places. Yet, it will take thousands of years before it reaches the nearest star Alpha Centauri. It has simply been 45 years since its launch. Hence, it can be deduced that no one will be around to witness the historic moment when the first man-made space probe will reach another star.
What is the James Webb Telescope?
Recently, the news about this telescope has been making it to the headlines. This advanced NASA’s telescope is the size of a school bus. It has large panels to capture as many light rays as possible. The James Webb telescope was hailed as the harbinger of hope for humanity’s next quest toward outer space.
Recently, the telescope ran into some technical issues which got resolved later. It has stunned the world with the quality of the pictures captured by it. For instance, it has captured images and data of exoplanets from other galaxies, showing the millions of galaxies existing in deep space in just one frame. Scientists are expecting to make a host of new discoveries from this device for a decade at least. It is comforting to know that the predecessor of the James Webb telescope was the infamous Hubble telescope.
It will be worth seeing what humanity discovers on its way to understanding its origins and the universe.
