The James Webb telescope showed an incredible image of the rings of Uranus

Uranus is surrounded by a system of faint rings that are very difficult to capture. Until now, only the Voyager 2 space probe during its flyby in 1986 and the Keck Observatory could observe them. Now consider the environment of the seventh planet of the solar system allowed James Webb telescope.

The resulting photo captured 11 of the 13 rings that Uranus is known to have. Some of them are too bright for the space telescope, so they merge together. Nine of the visible rings are major, and two are scattered dusty rings, similar to the faint orange structure closest to the planet.

Behind the rings, two bright clouds can be seen, which are associated with storm activity inside the planet. One is at the limbus, and the other is at the polar cap. By the way, the planet itself essentially rotates “on its side”, retrograde. Therefore, the change of seasons there is completely different from that on other planets of the solar system.

The reason for this and many other features of this amazing planet is the huge external influence experienced by Uranus billions of years ago. It distorted the planet's axis, magnetic field and internal temperature.

The James Webb thumbnail also shows most of Uranus' moons. While many of them are too small and dim to be seen in the image, the brightest six are very clear. And all this thanks to just a 12-minute exposure in just two filters.

In the near future, Uranus will be studied much better, and perhaps the planet will reveal many of its secrets. And it's all thanks to Webb.