James Webb Telescope Takes a First Peek Inside Uranus

The European Space Agency announced Thursday that a study using the joint NASA/ESA-built James Webb Space Telescope has peered into Uranus's upper atmosphere. It's an important first step in revealing the nature of ice giants both here and elsewhere throughout the universe.

The study focused on the planet's magnetosphere—specifically, the ionosphere, which extends up to 5,000 kilometers above Uranus' cloud tops. Because the ionosphere is predictably full of ions, it is a charged field that interacts strongly with the planet's magnetic field.

This allows the ionosphere to serve as a means of investigating the magnetic field, and, through that, the planet's core and its spectacular auroras.

This study mapped the temperature and ion density across the planet, which should help us understand the atmospheres of our own ice giants and beyond.

Using the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), the team was able to look ...