{"id":24766,"date":"2025-03-26T20:33:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T21:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=24766"},"modified":"2025-03-26T22:23:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T22:23:33","slug":"nasas-webb-telescope-spots-auroras-on-neptune-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=24766","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Webb Telescope Spots Auroras on Neptune for the First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The James Webb Space Telescope identified the lights in the distant planet\u2019s atmosphere, which could not be seen by earlier telescopes or spacecraft.<\/p>\n

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The vermilion, amethyst and jade ribbons of the northern and southern lights are some of Earth\u2019s most distinctive features. But our planet doesn\u2019t have a monopoly on auroras. Scientists have spied them throughout the solar system, weaving through the skies of Mars<\/a>, Saturn, Jupiter<\/a> and even on some of Jupiter\u2019s fiery and icy moons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lights glow in the skies of Uranus<\/a>, too. But auroras around our sun\u2019s most distant planet, Neptune, have long eluded astronomers.<\/p>\n

That has changed with the powerful infrared instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. In a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Astronomy<\/a>, scientists reveal unique auroras that spill over either side of Neptune\u2019s equator, a contrast with the glowing gossamer seen arcing over other worlds\u2019 poles.<\/p>\n

Astronomers are thrilled to see the completion of an aurora-hunting quest decades in the making. \u201cEveryone is very excited to prove that it\u2019s there, just like we thought,\u201d said Rosie Johnson<\/a>, a space physics researcher at Aberystwyth University in Wales who wasn\u2019t involved with the new study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This discovery will also allow scientists to study aspects of Neptune that have previously been out of reach. \u201cThey\u2019re using aurora to understand the shape of the planet\u2019s magnetic field, which is seeing the unseen,\u201d said Carl Schmidt<\/a>, a planetary astronomer at Boston University who wasn\u2019t involved with the new study.<\/p>\n

Each world generates auroras differently, but the basics are the same. Energetic particles (often from the sun, but sometimes from a moon\u2019s volcanic eruptions<\/a>) slam into an atmosphere and bounce off gases. That particle collision briefly causes flashes of light. And if a world has a magnetic field, that guides the location of the auroras.<\/p>\n

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The James Webb Space Telescope identified the lights in the distant planet\u2019s atmosphere, which could not be seen by earlier telescopes or spacecraft.The vermilion, amethyst and jade ribbons of the northern and southern lights are some of Earth\u2019s most distinctive features. But our planet doesn\u2019t have a monopoly on auroras. Scientists have spied them throughout the solar system, weaving through the skies of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and even on some of Jupiter\u2019s fiery and icy moons.Lights glow in the skies of Uranus, too. But auroras around our sun\u2019s most distant planet, Neptune, have long eluded astronomers.That has changed with the powerful infrared instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. In a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists reveal unique auroras that spill over either side of Neptune\u2019s equator, a contrast with the glowing gossamer seen arcing over other worlds\u2019 poles.Astronomers are thrilled to see the completion of an aurora-hunting quest decades in the making. \u201cEveryone is very excited to prove that it\u2019s there, just like we thought,\u201d said Rosie Johnson, a space physics researcher at Aberystwyth University in Wales who wasn\u2019t involved with the new study.This discovery will also allow scientists to study aspects of Neptune that have previously been out of reach. \u201cThey\u2019re using aurora to understand the shape of the planet\u2019s magnetic field, which is seeing the unseen,\u201d said Carl Schmidt, a planetary astronomer at Boston University who wasn\u2019t involved with the new study.Each world generates auroras differently, but the basics are the same. Energetic particles (often from the sun, but sometimes from a moon\u2019s volcanic eruptions) slam into an atmosphere and bounce off gases. That particle collision briefly causes flashes of light. And if a world has a magnetic field, that guides the location of the auroras.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24768,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24766"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24769,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24766\/revisions\/24769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}