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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope 
has revealed a new

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look at colorful auroras,
but not here on Earth.

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Recent observations of Neptune,
the most distant planet from the Sun,

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have shown a sky full of vivid cyan
stretching across the planet's

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upper atmosphere.

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These light blue splotches,
seen all around the planet, are packed

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with information about how the gas giant’s
atmosphere behaves.

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Auroras happen when energetic particles,
often originating from the sun,

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become trapped in a planet's magnetic
field and strike the upper atmosphere.

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The energy released during these
collisions creates their signature glow.

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However, what has been observed in
Neptune is noticeably different from what

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we are accustomed to seeing here on Earth,

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or even on planets closer to it, like Jupiter or Saturn.

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Instead of being confined to the planet's
northern and southern poles,

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Neptune's auroras are located
at the planet's mid-latitudes.

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This is due to the strange
nature of Neptune's magnetic field

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that astronomers
are still actively investigating.

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In 1989, the Voyager II spacecraft made a flyby approach

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that first confirmed Neptune's
magnetic field is tilted by 47 degrees.

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Since aurora activity is based
where the magnetic fields converge

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into the planet's atmosphere, its aurora
are seen far from its rotational poles.

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With this new data from Webb,
the temperature at the top of Neptune's

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atmosphere was measured for the first time
since that flyby occurred.

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And the results hint at why

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these auroras have remained hidden
from astronomers for so long.

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Surprisingly, Neptune's upper atmosphere
has cooled by several hundred degrees,

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and a substantially colder temperature
results in much fainter auroras

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that can only be detected using Webb’s
powerful scientific instruments.

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This cooling also suggests
that this region of its atmosphere

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can change dramatically,
even though the planet sits over

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30 times farther from the Sun
compared to Earth.

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These observations were made
using one of Webb's powerful onboard

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scientific instruments,
known as the Near-Infrared spectrograph,

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and for the very first time, scientists
have confirmed the presence of

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trihydrogen cation, a chemical compound
commonly known to be created in auroras.

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These discoveries
help scientists to better understand

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how Neptune's magnetic field interacts
with particles that stream

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out from the sun to the distant reaches
of our solar system.

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Webb’s infrared capabilities are helping

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to reveal details
that have never been seen before,

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opening up a window into studying ice
giant atmospheres.

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When Webb's observations 
are combined with data from

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the Hubble Space Telescope and others,

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the picture of what's happening on
Neptune is becoming much more clear.

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[ WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE ]

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[ NASA ]