NASA has unveiled the James Webb Space Telescope’s ability to capture the clearest images of Neptune and its rings. Not only does this photo shed new light on the ice giant, it is the clearest image of this distant planet ring in more than 30 years, according to an official statement from the US space agency.

NASA’s Webb Telescope tweeted: “Hey Neptune. Did you ring? Here is the Webb’s latest image shows Neptune’s rings as clearly as possible over the past 30 years, and this is the first time we’ve seen it in infrared light. Take in Webb’s ghostly, ethereal views of the planet and its dust bands, rings and moons.“It has been 30 years since we last saw this faint dusty ring, and this is the first time we see it in infrared,” said NASA data scientist Heidi Hamel, Neptune systems expert and Webb multidisciplinary scientist.

Hey Neptune. Did you ring? 👋

Webb’s latest image is the clearest look at Neptune's rings in 30+ years, and our first time seeing them in infrared light. Take in Webb's ghostly, ethereal views of the planet and its dust bands, rings and moons: https://t.co/Jd09henF1F #IAC2022 pic.twitter.com/17QNXj23ow

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) September 21, 2022

Neptune was discovered by explorers in 1846 and has been admired ever since. The planet is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth and orbits a dark, distant region outside the solar system.The Sun is so far away from Neptune that it resembles Earth’s twilight.The planets are called ice giants because of their internal chemistry. Compared to the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has many more elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The statement says that this is visible in the characteristic blue color of Neptune in Hubble Space Telescope images at visible wavelengths from a small amount of methane gas.

According to NASA reports, Neptune does not appear blue in Webb in the near-infrared range of 0.6 to 5 microns. In fact, methane gas absorbs red and infrared light so strongly that the planet is very dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where there are high-altitude clouds. These clouds of methane ice appear as bright streaks and patches that reflect sunlight before being absorbed by methane gas. Hubble Space Telescope and V.M. The Keck Observatory has been documenting these rapidly growing cloud opportunities over the years.

The lines surrounding the planet’s equator could be a visual signal of the Earth’s atmospheric circulation causing winds and storms on Neptune. At the equator, as the atmosphere sinks and heats up, it is brighter in the infrared than the cooler surrounding gas.