Kredi: Bilim: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Görüntü İşleme: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Webb’in Kızılötesi Görüntüsü Gezegenin Dramatik Halkalarını ve Dinamik Atmosferini Vurguluyor
Gezegen[{” attribute=””>Uranus is an oddball in our solar system, tilted on its side as it orbits the sun, causing extreme seasons. While the planet’s atmosphere appeared nearly featureless when visited by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986, subsequent observations from the ground and in space have shown turbulent storms.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed Uranus, and the resulting image highlights a complex system of rings as well as a bright polar cap and likely storm clouds.
This zoomed-in image of Uranus, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on February 6, 2023, reveals stunning views of the planet’s rings. The planet displays a blue hue in this representative-color image, made by combining data from two filters (F140M, F300M) at 1.4 and 3.0 microns, which are shown here as blue and orange, respectively. Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Webb Space Telescope Scores Another Ringed World with New Image of Uranus
Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system’s other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as bright features in the planet’s atmosphere. The Webb data demonstrates the observatory’s unprecedented sensitivity for the faintest dusty rings, which have only ever been imaged by two other facilities: the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past the planet in 1986, and the Keck Observatory with advanced adaptive optics.
The seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus is unique: It rotates on its side, at roughly a 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. This causes extreme seasons since the planet’s poles experience many years of constant sunlight followed by an equal number of years of complete darkness. (Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.) Currently, it is late spring for the northern pole, which is visible here; Uranus’ northern summer will be in 2028. In contrast, when Voyager 2 visited Uranus it was summer at the south pole. The south pole is now on the ‘dark side’ of the planet, out of view and facing the darkness of space.
This zoomed-in image of Uranus, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on February 6, 2023, reveals stunning views of the planet’s rings. On the right side of the planet, there’s an area of brightening at the pole facing the Sun, known as a polar cap. This polar cap is unique to Uranus because it is the only planet in the solar system tilted on its side, which causes its extreme seasons. A new aspect of the polar cap revealed by Webb is a subtle brightening near the Uranian north pole. At the edge of the polar cap lies a bright cloud as well as a few fainter extended features just northward of the cap’s edge, and a second very bright cloud is seen at the planet’s left limb. Such clouds are typical for Uranus in infrared wavelengths, and likely are connected to storm activity. Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
This infrared image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) combines data from two filters at 1.4 and 3.0 microns, which are shown here in blue and orange, respectively. The planet displays a blue hue in the resulting representative-color image.
When Voyager 2 looked at Uranus, its camera showed an almost featureless blue-green ball in visible wavelengths. With the infrared wavelengths and extra sensitivity of Webb we see more detail, showing how dynamic the atmosphere of Uranus really is.
This wider view of the Uranian system with Webb’s NIRCam instrument features the planet Uranus as well as six of its 27 known moons (most of which are too small and faint to be seen in this short exposure). A handful of background objects, including many galaxies, are also seen. Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
On the right side of the planet, there’s an area of brightening at the pole facing the Sun, known as a polar cap. This polar cap is unique to Uranus – it seems to appear when the pole enters direct sunlight in the summer and vanish in the fall; these Webb data will help scientists understand the currently mysterious mechanism. Webb revealed a surprising aspect of the polar cap: a subtle enhanced brightening at the center of the cap. The sensitivity and longer wavelengths of Webb’s NIRCam may be why we can see this enhanced Uranus polar feature when it has not been seen as clearly with other powerful telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory.
At the edge of the polar cap lies a bright cloud as well as a few fainter extended features just beyond the cap’s edge, and a second very bright cloud is seen at the planet’s left limb. Such clouds are typical for Uranus in infrared wavelengths, and likely are connected to storm activity.
This planet is characterized as an ice giant due to the chemical make-up of its interior. Most of its mass is thought to be a hot, dense fluid of “icy” materials – water, methane, and ammonia – above a small rocky core.
James Webb Uzay Teleskobu, Güneş Sistemi’nin diğer buz devi Uranüs’ün çarpıcı bir görüntüsünü aldı. Yeni görüntü, gezegenin atmosferindeki parlak özelliklerin yanı sıra dramatik halkaları da içeriyor. Uranüs’ün yeni Webb verileri, en zayıf tozlu halkaları ortaya çıkaran mükemmel bir hassasiyet sunar. Güneş’ten yedinci gezegen olan Uranüs gariptir: yörünge düzleminden yaklaşık 90 derecelik bir açıyla yan tarafında döner. Bu, gezegenin kutupları 42 yıl sürekli güneş ışığı ve 42 yıl tam karanlık yaşadığından (Uranüs’ün Güneş’in etrafında dönmesi 84 yıl sürer) olağandışı mevsimlere neden olur. Şu anda, bu görüntünün sağ tarafında yer alan kuzey kutbunda baharın sonları; Uranüs’ün kuzey yazı 2028’de olacak.
Uranüs’ün bilinen 13 halkası vardır ve bunlardan 11’i bu Webb görüntüsünde görülmektedir. Bu halkalardan bazıları Webb ile o kadar parlak ki, birbirine yakın olduklarında daha büyük bir halka oluşturuyormuş gibi görünüyorlar. Dokuz tanesi gezegenin ana halkası olarak sınıflandırıldı ve ikisi, Voyager 2 tarafından 1986’da yakın geçişine kadar keşfedilmemiş olan daha soluk tozlu halkalar (gezegene en yakın dağınık zeta halkası gibi). Uranüs, önceden var olan iki soluk dış halkayı ortaya çıkaracak. Hubble ile keşfedildi 2007 halka-uçak geçişi sırasında.
Webb ayrıca Uranüs’ün bilinen 27 uydusunun birçoğunu da yakaladı (çoğu burada görülemeyecek kadar küçük ve sönük); en parlak altı tanesi geniş açılı görüntüde tanımlanır. Bu, Uranüs’ün yalnızca iki filtreyle birlikte 12 dakikalık kısa bir pozlama görüntüsüydü. Webb’in bu gizemli gezegeni gözlemlerken neler yapabileceği buzdağının sadece görünen kısmı. Uranüs ile ilgili ek çalışmalar şu anda yapılıyor ve Webb’in bilim operasyonlarının ilk yılında daha fazlası planlanıyor.
2022’de Ulusal Bilim, Mühendislik ve Tıp Akademileri, 2023-2033 Gezegen Bilimi ve Astrobiyolojisinde Uranüs bilimini bir öncelik olarak belirledi. on yıllık anket.
James Webb Uzay Teleskobu, dünyanın önde gelen uzay bilimi gözlemevidir. Güneş sistemimizin sırlarını çözecek, diğer yıldızların etrafındaki uzak gezegenleri keşfedecek ve evrenin esrarengiz yapılarını ve başlangıçlarını ve onun içindeki konumumuzu inceleyecek. Program, NASA, Avrupa Uzay Ajansı (ESA) ve Kanada Uzay Ajansı arasındaki bir işbirliğidir ve NASA tarafından yönetilmektedir.
