• James Webb Space Telescope captures strange magnetic forces warping Uranus For the first time, astronomers have charted the vertical structure of Uranus’s upper atmosphere, revealing how temperature and electrically charged particles change with altitude across the planet. • An international research team used the James Webb Space Telescope and its NIRSpec instrument to monitor Uranus for nearly one full rotation. • By capturing faint molecular emissions high above the cloud tops, the scientists gained new insight into how ice giant planets move and manage energy in their upper layers. • The project was led by Paola Tiranti of Northumbria University in the United Kingdom. • The team measured temperatures and ion densities as far as 5000 km above the visible clouds, within a region known as the ionosphere, where the atmosphere becomes ionized and strongly influenced by the planet’s magnetic field. • These observations provide the clearest picture yet of where Uranus’s auroras take shape and how its unusually tilted magnetic field affects them.
Article Summaries:
- Scientists have used the James Webb Space Telescope to map Uranus’s upper atmosphere in three dimensions for the first time. By observing the planet for nearly one full rotation with the NIRSpec instrument, the team measured temperature and ion density up to 5,000 km above the cloud tops, revealing how energy moves upward and how the planet’s highly tilted magnetic field shapes auroral bands and dark regions. The data confirm that Uranus’s upper atmosphere continues to cool, with peak temperatures between 3,000 and 4,000 km altitude and ion densities peaking near 1,000 km. These observations provide the clearest view yet of the ice giant’s magnetosphere and its influence on atmospheric dynamics.
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