[HN Gopher] Uranus (NIRCam Image)
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Uranus (NIRCam Image)
Author : nickthegreek
Score : 73 points
Date : 2023-04-06 17:15 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (webbtelescope.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (webbtelescope.org)
| gnatman wrote:
| Awesome pic- looks like a 70s sci-fi paperback cover
| jmclnx wrote:
| Nice, and the rings came out great
| nikbackm wrote:
| Do these images have any scientific use?
| vkou wrote:
| Once image data is gathered, it gets analyzed. That's the
| scientific use.
|
| Then, at some point, people assign photogenic false-color
| filters to that data, and do a press release.
| zabzonk wrote:
| does learning any more details about the universe ever have any
| "scientific use"?
| pacetherace wrote:
| Telescope time for JWST is allocated based on scientific
| proposals. So yes there is to be some obvious scientific
| justification for observation of Uranus. This is the news
| release associated with these images.
|
| https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2...
| skybrian wrote:
| I'm wondering why it doesn't look very round, like the picture is
| somehow distorted?
|
| For the rings, I think it's that a picture of a ringed planet is
| usually rotated ninety degrees so the longer axis points
| sideways.
| ProAm wrote:
| The angle of the rings are making it appear not round, it's a
| circle.
|
| I do not understand your comment about the rings? Uranus is
| tilted almost 90 degrees off typical axis
| Sharlin wrote:
| Pictures of ringed planets are not usually rotated any more
| than this picture is. (Solar system pictures are typically
| rotated so that "up" is perpendicular to the ecliptic.) It's
| just that Saturn's (and Neptune's) axial tilt is fairly
| moderate (27deg and 28deg respectively) while Uranus is unique
| in having a tilt of almost 100deg.
| vikingerik wrote:
| The planet doesn't look round for two reasons.
|
| One is that the rings aren't circular in the picture, because
| they're slightly oblique to the viewpoint, but your brain
| expects to see round circles, so it compensates by distorting
| your perception of the planet relative to the rings.
|
| Two is the planet actually isn't round, because of its
| equatorial bulge, which in this image is slightly more in the
| up-down direction than left-right, because of the obliquity of
| the viewpoint. This effect is in the same direction as the
| rings perception effect and stacks with it.
| tejtm wrote:
| Evidence of extreme rearrangement in early solar system
| history, it is spinning sideways as compared to the ecliptic
| (the plane the solar system is on).
|
| There is suspicion the planets were not always in the same
| order they are in today.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| I think it's more than "suspicion"
| MoSattler wrote:
| where can I read more about this?
| vikingerik wrote:
| Here, and there are several related articles and theories
| linked from it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping-
| Jupiter_scenario
| WakoMan12 wrote:
| dont make me tickle your toes Jeremy
| krylon wrote:
| Maybe it's an optical illusion? When I look closely, the planet
| _looks_ pretty round to me. The rings around it or the color
| gradient of the planet may affect the perception of its shape.
| uhtred wrote:
| it's nice to see the rings around uranus in such detail
| junon wrote:
| Incredible. It feels me with so much joy that JWT has been such a
| resounding success - I was so afraid the mission would fail
| somehow. The images we've gotten have changed the entire
| landscape.
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(page generated 2023-04-06 23:01 UTC)