Stunning JWST image of Uranus shows 13 rings and nine moons
Rings, moons, storms and a bright polar cap can be seen in this breathtaking new image of Uranus from the James Webb Space Telescope
By Alex Wilkins
18 December 2023
Uranus, showing all of its rings and nine of the planet’s 27 moons
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
This amazing shot of Uranus, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), has given us our most complete view yet of the planet, with its rings and turbulent atmosphere revealed in glorious detail.
In April, JWST used its infrared sensors to image Uranus and give us a clearer view of the ice giant’s rings of rock and dust, which had only previously been directly imaged twice, by the Voyager 2 spacecraft and Earth-based Keck Observatory. In that April image, 11 of Uranus’s 13 known rings could be seen, but the final two were too faint to show up.
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JWST has now followed up those observations using a wider field of view and more wavelengths of infrared light, revealing the rings in even more detail and showing us the elusive final two rings.
The view above also shows nine of Uranus’s 27 moons, which are all tilted at the same 98-degree angle away from the sun as the planet itself. Another new image from JWST, below, shows five more moons (Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda and Titania) glowing like blue stars, bringing the total displayed to 14.
This JWST picture of Uranus shows five more moons, shining like blue stars around the planet. They are (clockwise from top): Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda and Titania STScI Copyright: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
