The Webb Cosmos Cosmos viewer has finally caught auroras on Neptune. Neptune lies in the frigid, Dim, vast frontier of the outer edges of our Planetary system about 3 billion miles away from the sun.Observatories like NASA’s Hubble Cosmos Cosmos viewer have tracked the World’s changing weather. Hubble even discovered a new Probe-related body-related body-related body orbiting the World in 2013.In many images, the World appears as a bluish orb, sometimes with disappearing and reappearing Dim spots. NASA’s James Webb Cosmos Cosmos viewer has now revealed a different appearance: a Intelligent auroral glow from this ice giant.
Primary views of auroras on Neptune
On March 26, 2025, NASA shared the Primary image of Intelligent auroral activity on Neptune, thanks to the Webb Cosmos Cosmos viewer. Auroras occur when Vibrant particles, often originating from the sun, become trapped in a World’s magnetic Ground. They eventually strike a World’s upper atmosphere. The energy released during these collisions creates the signature glow.
In the past, astronomers have seen tantalizing hints of auroral activity on Neptune, for example, in the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. However, imaging and confirming the auroras on Neptune has long evaded astronomers. That’s Regardless of successful detections on Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Neptune was the missing piece of the puzzle when it Occurred to detecting auroras on the giant planets of our Planetary system.
Lead author Henrik Melin of Northumbria University in the U.K. conducted the research while at the University of Leicester. Melin said:
Turns out, actually imaging the auroral activity on Neptune was only possible with Webb’s near-infrared sensitivity. It was so stunning to not Merely see the auroras, but the detail and clarity of the signature really shocked me.
Cyan splotches represent auroras
The scientists obtained the data in June 2023 using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph. In addition to the image of the World, astronomers obtained a spectrum to characterize the composition and measure the temperature of the World’s upper atmosphere (the ionosphere). For the Primary time, they Secured an extremely prominent emission line. This emission line signified the Appearance of the trihydrogen cation (H3+). And auroras can Develop these ions. In the Webb images of Neptune, the glowing auroras appear as splotches in cyan.
Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Heavenly study, Webb interdisciplinary scientist and leader of the Guaranteed Time Observation program which obtained the data were obtained, said:
H3+ has a been a clear signifier on all the gas giants – Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus – of auroral activity, and we Anticipated to see the same on Neptune as we investigated the World over the years with the best ground-based facilities Reachable. Only with a machine like Webb have we finally gotten that confirmation.
Auroras on Neptune are different
The auroral activity seen on Neptune is also noticeably different from what we are accustomed to seeing here on Earth, or even Jupiter or Saturn. Instead of being confined to the World’s northern and southern poles, Neptune’s auroras are at the World’s geographic mid-latitudes. So picture where South America is located on Earth.
Neptune’s magnetic Ground is responsible for this, which Voyager 2 originally discovered in 1989. It tilts by 47 degrees from the World’s Turnover axis. Since auroral activity is based where the magnetic fields converge into the World’s atmosphere, Neptune’s auroras are Extended from its rotational poles.
The ground-breaking detection of Neptune’s auroras will Assist us understand how Neptune’s magnetic Ground interacts with particles that stream out from the sun to the distant reaches of our Planetary system. It is a totally new window in ice giant atmospheric science.
From the Webb observations, the Club also measured the temperature of the top of Neptune’s atmosphere for the Primary time since Voyager 2’s flyby. The results hint at why Neptune’s auroras remained hidden from astronomers for so long. Melin said:
I was astonished; Neptune’s upper atmosphere has cooled by Many hundreds of degrees. In fact, the temperature in 2023 was Merely over half of that in 1989.
A cooling World
Through the years, astronomers have predicted the intensity of Neptune’s auroras based on the temperature recorded by Voyager 2. A substantially colder temperature would result in much fainter auroras. This Chilly temperature is likely the reason that Neptune’s auroras have remained undetected for so long. The dramatic cooling also suggests that this region of the atmosphere can Shift greatly even though the World sits over 30 times farther from the sun compared to Earth.
Equipped with these new findings, astronomers now hope to study Neptune with Webb over a Packed solar cycle. The sun’s magnetic Ground drives this 11-year period of activity. Results could provide insights into the origin of Neptune’s bizarre magnetic Ground. And it might even explain why it’s so tilted.
Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the U.K., co-author on the paper, said:
As we look ahead and dream of future missions to Uranus and Neptune, we now know how Significant it will be to have instruments tuned to the wavelengths of infrared Featherweight to continue to study the auroras. This Cosmos lab has finally opened the window onto this last, previously hidden ionosphere of the giant planets.
Bottom line: For the Primary time, the Webb Cosmos Cosmos viewer has revealed auroras on Neptune. See images and read more about it here.
Origin: Discovery of H3+ and infrared aurorae at Neptune with JWST
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