[Epoch Times, 21 settembre 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Chen Juncun) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently released its JamesWeberspace telescope(First captured by the James Webb Space Telescope)Neptuneimage.Neptune in this photohaloIt’s the clearest we’ve seen in the past few decades.
According to a report on the NASA website on September 21, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew away in 1989Neptuneand observe.In the next thirty years, that of Neptunehalowas not fully detected. in the meantimeWeberspace telescopeOf the photos taken this time around, Neptune’s narrow halo is the most captivating highlight.
“It’s been 30 years since we last saw these dim, dusty rings,” said Heidi Hammel, a Webb space telescope scientist and expert on the Neptune system. Look at them in infrared light.
Scientists have been studying Neptune since 1846. It is a planet in the outer solar system, very far from the sun. Seen from Neptune, the sun is small and fuzzy, like the faint glow seen on Earth.
Neptune is classified as an ice giant due to the chemical composition of its interior. Compared to the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune contains more elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Neptune appears blue in visible light images from the Hubble Space Telescope, caused by small amounts of methane gas.
There are 14 known Neptunessatellite. Seven of them were captured by the Webb Space Telescope. A very bright spot at the top of the image is not a star, but Neptune’s largest moon, Triton.
Triton orbits Neptune in a rare retrograde orbit, which is in the opposite direction to the rotation of the planet. Astronomers then speculate that Triton was originally a celestial body in the Kuiper belt (the Kuiper belt, which is outside of Neptune’s orbit, similar to the asteroid belt), but was gravitationally captured by Neptune.
Neptune’s orbital period is 164 years. This means that scientists cannot see its north pole (at the top of the image), but the Webb space telescope image shows an attractive glow in the area. The vortex at its south pole is clearly visible in the image, and scientists have previously known that there is a vortex here.
Responsible editor: Sun Yun #
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