Beijing time:2022-09-24 12:23
[NTD, Beijing time, September 23, 2022]NASA recently released the first image of Neptune captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, capturing more than three decades. The clearest view of the distant planet, most notably the clear rings of Neptune.
Neptune’s rings have not been fully detected since NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft became the first spacecraft to observe Neptune in 1989 when it flew past Neptune, according to NASA’s website. In the images captured by the Webb Space Telescope this time, Neptune’s narrow ring is the most striking bright spot.
Scientists first discovered Neptune in 1846. Neptune is the most distant planet from the sun in the solar system. The distance from the sun is 30 times the distance between the earth and the sun. It is so far away that the sunlight is very weak. When the sun of Neptune is in the middle, it is like a hazy twilight on the earth.
“It’s been thirty years since we last saw these faintly dusty rings, and this is the first time we’ve seen them in the infrared,” said Heidi Hammel, a Neptune system expert and scientist with the Webb Space Telescope. see them.”
Neptune appears as a dreamy pearly white as captured by the Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). Previous images of Neptune in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope showed a typical blue appearance.
Neptune is classified as an ice giant due to the chemical composition of its interior. Neptune has a total of 14 known moons, seven of which were captured by the Webb Space Telescope. As you can see from the picture, the bright spot in the upper left corner is Neptune’s largest moon, Triton. Because Triton’s surface is covered in frozen nitrogen, with an average reflectivity of 70 percent, it looks extra bright to telescopes, like a bright star.
In the new image of Neptune released this time, in addition to several clear narrow planetary rings, darker dust bands (Dust bands) were also photographed.
(Reporter Ji Weizhen comprehensive report/responsible editor: Cheng Yiren)
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