We have discovered Ura on Neptune for the first time

For the first time, researchers monitored the infrared Aurora that revolve in the atmosphere of Neptune, verifying contracts of scientific speculation.

When the NASA Fawiger 2 mission flew by Neptune in 1989, she found hints of Aurora’s activity in giant ice clouds. However, scientists were unable to check the phenomenon at the time, because the tools were very weak. Now, the JMST telescope has finally provided the ability to discover it.

“This was truly an achievement for years of anticipation,” he says. Heidi Hamel In the Universities Association to Research in Astronomy in Washington, DC.

HAMMEL and her colleagues have used NirSPEC from JWST, a powerful infrared tool, to take spectral photos of Neptune and analyze the different wavelengths of light from the planet. In 2023, the researchers used the instrument to detect Infrared Aurora on Uranus. This time, he found them on Neptune as well.

The photos also allowed Hammel and her team to start building a map of the magnetic field in Neptune. This is especially exciting as it is known that the planet has some of the most unusual magnetic poles in the solar system.

Unlike Earth, Jupiter, or Saturn, the Neptune magnetic columns are not concentrated in the rotation columns. Instead, “it has been compensated by almost half of the planet’s diameter,” says Hamil. As a result, Aurora appears as irregular points much closer to the equator, almost on the region where South America sits on the ground.

In addition to the disclosure of Aurora, JWST notes indicate that Ionoster Neptune – the charged particles that cover some planets – calm. It is now, on average, about 10 percent more cold than in Voyageer 2 for nearly 36 years. Similar changes were discovered on Uranus.

Although the new study authors are not sure of this cooling, they hope to offer the next JWST monitoring period, scheduled for 2026, more clues.