James Webb Space Telescope posted a photo:
Hey, hey, it’s everyone’s favorite 7th planet from the Sun!
Webb has provided us with the first vertical view of Uranus’s ionosphere, revealing auroras shaped by its tilted magnetic field. Getting a look at the structure of the region where the atmosphere interacts strongly with the planet’s magnetic field is giving us the most detailed portrait yet of where its auroras form, how the magnetic field influences them, and also data on how Uranus’s atmosphere has continued to cool since the 1990s.
Uranus has the strangest magnetosphere in the Solar System. It is tilted and offset from the planet’s rotation axis (and this planet already rolls around the Sun nearly on its side), which means auroras move across the surface in complex ways. Better understanding Uranus will give us insight into ice-giant planets and help us better characterize giant planets outside our Solar System.
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, P. Tiranti, H. Melin, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Read more: esawebb.org/news/weic2602/
Image description: This image shows the planet Uranus set against the blackness of space. The planet appears as a smooth, bright cyan disc at the center, its atmosphere reveals soft, hazy tones of blue. Surrounding the planet is a vivid reddish glow, forming a diffuse halo that contrasts strongly with the cool blue of the planetary disc. Encircling Uranus are several thin, concentric rings, visible as pale gray arcs. Subtle variations in brightness can be seen across the planet’s face, with slightly brighter patches near the limb, hinting at atmospheric structure.
