#gas giant planet

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus in images taken by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). This image shows the moon, designated S/2025 U1, as well as 13 of the 28 other known moons orbiting the planet. (The small moon Cordelia orbits just inside the outermost ring, but is not visible in these views due to glare from the rings.) Due to the drastic differences in brightness levels, the image is a composite of three different treatments of the data, allowing the viewer to see details in the planetary atmosphere, the surrounding rings, and the orbiting moons. The data was taken with NIRCam’s wide band F150W2 filter that transmits infrared wavelengths from about 1.0 to 2.4 microns.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Maryame El Moutamid (SwRI), Matthew Hedman (University of Idaho); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

This image of Uranus from NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows the planet and its rings in new clarity. The Webb image exquisitely captures Uranus's seasonal north polar cap, including the bright, white, inner cap and the dark lane in the bottom of the polar cap. Uranus' dim inner and outer rings are also visible in this image, including the elusive Zeta ring, the extremely faint and diffuse ring closest to the planet. Nine of the planet's 27 known moons are also visible around the rings: Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Bianca, Portia, Juliet, and Perdita.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI