JWST Captures Rare View of Neptune’s Rings

Webb’s latest image is the clearest look at Neptune's rings in 30+ years, and our first time seeing them in infrared light. Take in Webb's ghostly, ethereal views of the planet and its dust bands, rings and moons. (Some of these rings have not been detected since Voyager 2 flew by in 1989!)

What’s that in the upper left? That’s no star. It’s Neptune’s large, unusual moon, Triton! Because Triton is covered in frozen, condensed nitrogen, it reflects 70% of the sunlight that hits it — making it appear very bright to Webb. 6 of Neptune’s other moons can also be seen as tiny dots surrounding Neptune and its rings.

In visible light, Neptune appears blue due to small amounts of methane gas in its atmosphere. Here, Webb’s NIRCam instrument observed Neptune at near-infrared wavelengths, so Neptune doesn’t look so blue!