![]() ![]() The sensitivity and longer wavelengths of Webb’s NIRCam may be why we can see this enhanced Uranus polar feature when it has not been seen with other powerful telescopes like the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Keck Observatory.Īt the edge of the polar cap lies a bright cloud as well as a few fainter extended features just beyond the cap’s edge, and a second very bright cloud is seen at the planet’s left limb. Webb revealed a surprising aspect of the polar cap: a subtle enhanced brightening at the center of the cap. This polar cap is unique to Uranus – it seems to appear when the pole enters direct sunlight in the summer and vanishes in the fall this Webb data will help scientists understand the currently mysterious mechanism. On the right side of the planet there’s an area of brightening at the pole facing the Sun, known as a polar cap. With the infrared wavelengths and extra sensitivity of Webb we see more detail, showing how dynamic the atmosphere of Uranus really is. When Voyager 2 looked at Uranus, its camera showed an almost featureless blue-green ball in visible wavelengths. The planet displays a blue hue in the resulting representative-color image. This infrared image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera ( NIRCam) combines data from two filters at 1.4 and 3.0 microns, which are shown here in blue and orange, respectively. The south pole is now on the ‘dark side’ of the planet, out of view and facing the darkness of space. ![]() In contrast, when Voyager 2 visited Uranus it was summer at the south pole. ![]() (Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.) Currently, it is late spring for the northern pole, which is visible on the images of this article Uranus’ northern summer will be in 2028. This causes extreme seasons since the planet’s poles experience many years of constant sunlight followed by an equal number of years of complete darkness. The seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus is unique: it rotates on its side, at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. ![]()
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