Primer plano de Urano (imagen nircam)

Primer plano de Urano (imagen nircam)

Esta imagen de Urano de Nircam (cámara de infrarrojo cercano) en el telescopio espacial James Webb de la NASA muestra el planeta y sus anillos con nueva claridad. La imagen de Webb captura exquisitamente la tapa polar norte estacional de Urano, incluida la tapa brillante, blanca, interna y el carril oscuro en la parte inferior de la tapa polar. Los tenues anillos internos y externos de Urano también son visibles en esta imagen, incluido el esquivo anillo Zeta: el anillo extremadamente débil y difuso más cercano al planeta.

Esta imagen Webb también muestra 9 de las 27 lunas del planeta. Son los puntos azules que rodean los anillos del planeta. En sentido horario a partir de las 2 en punto, son: Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Bianca, Portia, Juliet y Perdita. Las órbitas de estas lunas comparten la inclinación de 98 grados de su planeta padre en relación con el plano del sistema solar.

Un día en Urano es de aproximadamente 17 horas, por lo que la rotación del planeta es relativamente rápida. Esto hace que sea sumamente difícil para los observatorios con un ojo afilado como Webb capturar una imagen simple de todo el planeta: tormentas y otras características atmosféricas, y las lunas del planeta, se mueven visiblemente en cuestión de minutos. Esta imagen combina varias exposiciones más largas y más cortas de este sistema dinámico para corregir esos ligeros cambios a lo largo del tiempo de observación.

Credits

Image

NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI

About The Object
Object Name Uranus
Object Description Planet
About The Data
Data Description This image was created from JWST data from proposal: (K. Pontoppidan)
Instrument NIRCam
Exposure Dates 04 September 2023
Filters F140M, F210M, F300M, F460M
About The Image
Color Info These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample medium wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:   Blue: F140M, Cyan: F210M, Yellow: F300M, Orange: F460M
Compass Image The planet Uranus on a black background. The planet appears blue with a large, white patch taking up the right half. The patch is whitest at the center, then fades into blue at it expands from right to left. A thin outline of Uranus is also white. Around the planet is a system of nested rings. The outermost ring is the brightest while the innermost ring is the faintest. Unlike Saturn’s horizontal rings, the rings of Uranus are vertical and so they appear to surround the planet in an oval shape. There are 9 blueish white dots scattered around the rings.
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.