File:Neptune Close-Up (NIRCam Image) (weic2214a).jpeg
Original file (1,059 × 1,059 pixels, file size: 311 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Summary
[edit]DescriptionNeptune Close-Up (NIRCam Image) (weic2214a).jpeg |
English: Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image of Neptune, taken on 12 July 2022, brings the planet’s rings into full focus for the first time in more than three decades.The most prominent features of Neptune’s atmosphere in this image are a series of bright patches in the planet’s southern hemisphere that represent high-altitude methane-ice clouds. More subtly, a 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. Additionally, for the first time, Webb has teased out a continuous band of high-latitude clouds surrounding a previously-known vortex at Neptune’s southern pole. |
Date | 21 September 2022 (upload date) |
Source | Neptune Close-Up (NIRCam Image) |
Author | NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI |
Other versions |
|
Licensing
[edit]ESA/Webb images, videos and web texts are released by the ESA under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided they are clearly and visibly credited. Detailed conditions are below; see the ESA copyright statement for full information. For images created by NASA or on the webbtelescope.org website, use the {{PD-Webb}} tag.
Conditions:
Notes:
|
- You are free:
- to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
- to remix – to adapt the work
- Under the following conditions:
- attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 21:52, 20 November 2022 | 1,059 × 1,059 (311 KB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of https://cdn.esawebb.org/archives/images/large/weic2214a.jpg via Commons:Spacemedia |
You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage on Commons
The following 2 pages use this file:
File usage on other wikis
The following other wikis use this file:
- Usage on sk.wikipedia.org
Metadata
This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.
Source | STScI |
---|---|
Credit/Provider | NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: STScI/J. DePasquale |
Short title |
|
Image title |
|
Author | Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach |
Usage terms | |
Date and time of data generation | 00:00, 21 September 2022 |
JPEG file comment | NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is showing off its capabilities closer to home with its first image of Neptune. Not only has Webb captured the clearest view of this peculiar planet’s rings in more than 30 years, but its cameras are also revealing the ice giant in a whole new light.
Neptune, located 30 times farther from the sun than Earth, orbits in one of the dimmest areas of our solar system. High noon on Neptune would appear as a dim twilight does to us. This planet, characterized as an ice giant due to a hydrogen and helium-rich interior, has fascinated and perplexed researchers since its discovery via mathematics, not eyesight, in 1846. Most striking about Webb’s new image is the crisp view of the planet’s dynamic rings—some of which haven’t been seen at all, let alone with this clarity since the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989. Visible in the outermost ring, Adam’s ring, in this Webb image are clumps of dust called ring arcs. These thicker bands of dust have been observed to split and evolve, and astronomers will use Webb to investigate why and how that process occurs. Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) captures objects in the near-infrared range from 0.6 to 5 microns. In the context of Neptune and other solar system gas giants, this means, with Webb, we’re able to study deeper into the planet’s turbulent atmosphere to learn more than ever before about circulation patterns, chemical composition, and atmospheric structure. This first image of Neptune reveals several key features of the ice giant’s atmosphere only visible in the infrared. Most prominent in the image are a series of bright patches representing methane-ice clouds. These clouds are high in the atmosphere and reflect the sun’s bright light. Images from other observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, have recorded these rich, moving features over the years. More subtly, a thin line of brightness circling the planet’s equator is a visual signature of the global circulation of rising and falling material that powers Neptune’s winds and storms. At the equator warmer gases descend, glowing more brightly than the surrounding cooler gases. Neptune’s 164-year orbit means its northern pole, at the top of this image, has remained just out of view for astronomers for the most part–until now. Webb picks up an area of heightened brightness at the north pole area, hinting at some sort of atmospheric structure that could be investigated in future studies. A vortex swallowing part of the southern pole is also clearer in Webb’s view, showing signs of an extremely detailed, multi-faceted structure with a clear, continuous band of clouds surrounding it. Also photobombing Webb’s portrait of Neptune is a bright point of light sporting the signature diffraction spikes in many of Webb’s images—not a star, but Neptune’s most unusual moon, Triton. Covered in a frozen sheen of condensed nitrogen, Triton reflects an average 70 percent of the sunlight that hits it. Webb also captured 6 more of Neptune’s 14 known moons as they follow a relatively close orbit around the planet. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop 23.4 (Macintosh) |
Date and time of digitizing | 08:45, 30 August 2022 |
Date metadata was last modified | 12:37, 7 September 2022 |
File change date and time | 12:10, 7 September 2022 |
Unique ID of original document | xmp.did:b9760ef3-55d1-44ee-b9ad-26704f6a7b25 |
Keywords | Neptune |
Contact information | [email protected]
3700 San Martin Drive Baltimore, MD, 21218 USA |