NASA’s Next Generation Space Telescope has a blue-eyed specialty among solar system observations.
The James Webb Space Telescope will soon turn its attention to two intriguing “ice giants” — Uranus and Neptune — after releasing its first operational images on July 12. Webb’s sharp eyes and location in deep space will be especially valuable in extracting details about these two worlds, given only one spacecraft (Voyager 2) crossed by them briefly in the 1980s.
Since then, scientists have been forced to use multiple telescopes to monitor the weather on these worlds, and Webb will be a welcome addition to the team. Scientists want the observatory to study the composition and temperature of each atmosphere to gain insight into how circulation patterns and weather evolve on distant worlds, according to a 2020 statement (opens in new tab) about the planned research.
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As community calls grow for a mission to Uranus and Neptune, Webb presents an opportunity to take a high-resolution look at these worlds to learn more about their differences from Jupiter and Saturn. Neptune and Uranus are smaller and have interiors that are less rich in hydrogen and helium than their larger neighbors.
“The key thing that Webb can do, which is very, very difficult for any other facility to achieve, is to map their atmospheric temperature and chemical structure,” said study leader Lee Fletcher, a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. , in the release from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore.
uranium (Image: NASA)
“We think the weather and climate of ice giants will have a fundamentally different character compared to gas giants,” Fletcher said. “This is partly because they are so far from the sun, they are smaller in size and spin more slowly on their axes, but also because the mix of gases and the amount of atmospheric mixing is very different compared to Jupiter and Saturn .”
Webb’s mid-infrared range of wavelengths will allow researchers to distinguish the gases in the two planets’ upper atmospheres and understand how sunlight affects their production (if at all).
The studies are being conducted through the Guaranteed Observation Time Program with Webb, led by Webb Interdisciplinary Scientist Heidi Hammel. Hamel is also an STScI planetary scientist known for decades of observations of Uranus and Neptune with telescopes and spacecraft, including Voyager 2.
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