The image also shows seven of Neptune’s 14 confirmed moons, including Triton (the ‘star’ at top) as well as Galatea, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Proteus and Larissa. The bright spots and streaks on the planet represent methane-ice clouds, including a swirl surrounding a vortex at the south pole. Triton’s attention-grabbing look is the product of both the James Webb telescope’s telltale diffraction spikes as well as a condensed nitrogen surface that typically reflects 70 percent of sunlight.
Neptune is a particularly important target for scientists. At roughly 2.8 billion miles from the Sun, it’s far enough to deal with conditions that aren’t present for nearer planets, such as very low temperatures and a very long (164-year) orbit. Triton’s odd retrograde orbit even suggests might be a Kuiper Belt object that succumbed to Neptune’s gravitational pull.
This is just the start of studies using the James Webb telescope, and researchers expect to collect more observations of both Neptune and Triton within the next year. As with the recent looks at Mars and Jupiter, astronomers are only collecting preliminary data at this stage. You may have to wait a while before there are further insights that could improve our understandings of Neptune and space at large.
Original Story At https://www.engadget.com/james-webb-space-telescope-neptune-first-image-164307496.html?src=rss
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