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NASA has released new images of Neptune, the outermost planet in the solar system, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The images, taken in July, show not only Neptune’s thin rings, but also faint dust lanes never seen before in the infrared, as well as seven of the 14 known moons.
Webb showed Jupiter at its best in a series of new photos released last month.
Launched less than a year ago, the telescope has spent most of its time peering into the deeper universe.
Astronomers hope to go back to almost the beginning of the formation of the first stars and galaxies.
NASA’s Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to see Neptune’s gaseous state during its 1989 flyby.
No other spacecraft has visited the icy blue planet. It’s been three years since astronomers last saw the rings in detail and clarity, said Heidi Hamel, a planetary astronomer working with Webb and the Institute for Space Science.
Ms Hamel said on Twitter she cried when she saw the ring, yelling and making “my kids, my mom and even my cat look”.
The Webb Telescope is the largest and most powerful telescope in the world, located one million miles from Earth. It flew into space last December.
According to NASA, the observatory is in good health, except for one.
NASA reported this week that a mechanism on one of Webb’s instruments showed signs of increased friction late last month in one of four observational modes.
Observations on this particular observation track were put on hold as the review committee decided the way forward.
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