See The Webb Telescope’s Jaw-Dropping New Images Of Uranus

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has become only the third telescope to ever image the seventh planet’s faint rings.

In a 12-minute exposure image taken in February 2023—and a follow up to a similar image of Neptune published almost exactly a year ago when JWST was being tested—it’s possible to see the gas giant planet’s rings, bright features in the planet’s atmosphere and (in the wider images, below) many of its moons.

Only NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, in 1986, and the Keck Observatory, in 2004, have ever been able to image the rings of Uranus. Voyager 2’s visit gave humanity its only close-up images of Uranus and discovered 10 new moons.

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Photo: This zoomed-in image of Uranus, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) Feb. 6, 2023, reveals stunning views of the planet's rings. NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI. IMAGE PROCESSING: J. DEPASQUALE (STSCI)