---
title: "The Mighty James Webb Peers Directly Into Uranus"
description: "NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gotten an unprecedented, close-up look at the many rings of Uranus and its moons."
date: "2023-12-21"
modified: "2023-12-21"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/james-webb-peers-into-uranus-rings"
categories:
  - "James Webb Space Telescope"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "james webb space telescope"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
  - "uranus"
---

# The Mighty James Webb Peers Directly Into Uranus

![NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gotten an unprecedented, close-up look at the many rings of Uranus and its moons.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/james-webb-peers-into-uranus-rings.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Rings of Uranus

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gotten an unprecedented, close-up look at the rings of Uranus.

The [stunning high-resolution image](<https://www.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-rings-in-holidays-with-ringed-planet-uranus/>) shows all of the distant planet's inner and outer rings, as well as its 27 known moons.

These latest observations could help NASA plan future missions to the seventh planet from the Sun. They can also help us understand the meteorological systems of planets of its size in other parts of the universe.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/webb-stsci-01hhfp5g5bxsc5m7dx6dg9yxmb.webp>)
*Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI*

## Pale Blue Dot

While visible wavelength images of Uranus taken by NASA's Voyager 2 probe around 40 years ago only showed the planet as a small blue ball, infrared observations have since revealed far more features.

Thanks to the James Webb's incredibly sensitive scientific instruments, which cover the full range of the infrared spectrum, we can now see the planet's cloudy north pole as well as a number of storms roiling inside Uranus' atmosphere.

The planet spins around its own axis at a highly unusual 98-degree tilt, giving it the "most extreme seasons in the solar system," per NASA. That means one pole spends 21 Earth years completely plunged in darkness as the Sun shines upon the other pole.

The latest image builds on a [previous image](<https://www.businessinsider.com/uranus-images-shows-nasa-jwst-james-webb-outclasses-hubble-rings-2023-s>) of Uranus snapped by the JWST earlier this year that shows 11 of the planet's 13 rings in unprecedented detail. The image was a massive upgrade over images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which was unable to see the planet's fainter rings.

NASA scientists have called on the agency to [launch an exploratory probe](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-scientist-exploration-uranus>) to explore Uranus and its moons to get a better sense of how they were formed, as well as the planet's atmosphere and rings.

And thanks to the James Webb's latest image, scientists just got a much better sense of how to do just that.

**More on Uranus:** *[Scientists Simulate What It's Like to Dive Into Uranus](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-simulate-fall-uranus-neptune>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)