[LOOK] NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Snaps Image of Neptune's Bright Rings in More Than Three Decades

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has caught up a clear glimpse of Neptune's rings in three decades. The space observatory showed one of the most interesting features of the planet in its most beautiful view.

The Ice Giant and its Aesthetic Rings

According to NASA, the Webb telescope has recently captured Neptune's rings which turn out to be a band of dust and ice. The images caught a very pristine look of the rings in a crystal-clear perspective.

When Neptune was first discovered in 1846, astronomers were more curious about the planet's composition and its features. Since it's very far from the sun, the condition of this planet is expected to be extremely cold--which is very far from the Earth.

The cold planet is home to elements such as helium and hydrogen. These components are evidently seen on the Hubble Space Telescope. The iconic blue look of Neptune is attributed to the presence of gaseous methane.

In some shots from James Webb Space's NIRCam or Near-Infrared Camera, the planet appears to be darker than usual. The usual color that we perceive when talking about Neptune is blue, but because of methane gas, we could not see the azure coloration all over its surface.

Speaking of methane, the clouds that have this compound could display bright spots which appear to be reflecting sunlight. Over the past years, the color of the clouds has been changing.

Related Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Zooms in on Mars for the First Time, Capturing Stiking Martian Details!

The Most Strange Moon of Neptune

The water-rich planet has been shaking the curiosity of astronomers around the world for years. Like Uranus, scientists believe that Neptune is mysteriously hiding something beneath its oceans.

Neptune's rings are indeed the most fascinating things that you can see on the planet. It's obvious that the strands of clouds surround these beautiful features.

Aside from the bands of dust, the James Webb Space Telescope also snapped some images of the planet's 14 moons. The photo reveals a star-like entity that seems to be floating around in free space.

The astronomers said that it was not a star, but it was Triton, one of Neptune's moons which was named after the son of the Greek god Poseidon.

Sometimes, Triton can be much brighter compared to Neptune. In some way, it reflects a huge portion of sunlight that hits its surface.

Other scientists claim that Triton is not a natural satellite of the planet. Some of them believe that it's a Kuiper Belt object that accidentally got close to Neptune.

By next year, the James Webb Space Telescope will focus on bringing exciting researches about Neptune and its bizarre moon.

Meanwhile, NASA announced that its DART mission will attempt to change a path for the Didymos asteroid on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

Read Also: NASA's Perseverance Rover Found Organic Matter in Rock That May Be Evidence of Past Life on Mars

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Written by Joseph Henry