Neptune’s glowing auroras have been captured in the best detail yet by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Auroras can happen on any planet, and occur when electrically charged particles from space enter and collide with molecules in the atmosphere, creating a series of reactions that emit light.
On Earth, auroras tend to occur near the polar regions, producing spectacular northern and southern lights.
But hints of auroras were first faintly detected in ultraviolet light when the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Neptune in 1989.
Now, the Webb telescope has captured Neptune’s shimmering lights in infrared light, providing direct evidence they exist.
The stunning images were released on Wednesday with the results published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Scientists have studied auroras on Saturn and Jupiter for decades, but Neptune, the farthest planet from the sun, has been harder to see up close.
‘Neptune has always been elusive,’ said University of Reading planetary scientist James O’Donoghue, co-author of the new study.
Its auroras ‘had only been seen by Voyager, and we’ve been trying to see it again ever since’.
Neptune’s auroras occur near the mid-latitudes of the planet, not the polar regions, because of differences in its magnetic field, Mr O’Donoghue said.
The researchers also revealed that Neptune’s atmosphere has cooled significantly since the 1980s, which may have dimmed the light of the auroras.
If you’re looking for some spectacular stargazing tonight, you may not be able to see Neptune’s auroras, but you could see the Earth’s.
The Northern Lights will transform the typically gloomy skies above the UK with streaks of pink, purple and green this week.
The night sky phenomenon, or aurora borealis, are flashes of colour that mainly appear in the northernmost regions of the planet, like Canada.
But a geomagnetic storm that has raged for months has made this celestial fireworks display visible further south – even in London.
The Met Office says a burst of solar activity means the aurora will dance above northern Scotland.
On the weather agency’s ‘space weather’ forecast (yes, really), it says: ‘There is a chance of aurora sightings at times across northern Scotland this week, given clear night-time skies, with a slight chance of sightings across Southern Scotland and similar latitudes.’
Enjoy those starry skies!
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