Research based on Webb's observations of both Neptune and Triton is expected in the next year. Scientists are hopeful it will herald a new era of discovery.
Operational since July, Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever built, and has already unleashed a raft of unprecedented data. 'By being able to look at these ones in great detail, we can key into our observations of other ice giants,' McCaughrean said. 'So it's a pretty cool to go and have a look at,' said McCaughrean.Īs astronomers sweep the universe searching for other planets like our own, they have found that ice giants such as Neptune and Uranus are the most common in the Milky Way.
Neptune meanwhile 'absorbs most of the light falling on it,' McCaughrean said.īecause Triton orbits the wrong way around Neptune, it is believed to have once been an object from the nearby Kuiper belt which was captured in the planet's orbit. Triton, which is larger than dwarf planet Pluto, appears brighter than Neptune because it is covered in ice, which reflects light.
