James Webb Space Telescope snaps a pic of Uranus and its beautiful

Have you ever wondered what the rings around Uranus looked like? Well, look no further than NASA, which used its newest and most powerful space telescope to take a long look at Uranus to show its true, usually hidden, beauty. Queue seven-year-olds’ giggles.

Okay, now that we have those jokes out of the way, indeed, Webb’s newest images of Uranus are amazing, and the internet agrees. Uranus’ dusty rings have only been captured twice before, once by Voyager 2’s flyby in 1986 and by the Keck Observatory in 2004. Webb captured this photo using only two filters and a 12-minute exposure.

Take that, other super expensive and impressive feats of engineering?

New image shows a somewhat different Uranus

Both photos taken by Voyager and the Keck Observatory show a rather dull, blue planet with a few rings. However, Webb’s images, taken in February but shared this past week, show a much more vibrant planet. Still blue, but with a bright white pole region and clouds!

Hard to think this has only been about a year since Webb has become operational and with a lifespan of 10 years, but it will most likely outlive that estimate. So, just like Hubble, here’s to being amazed over and over again by each new image.