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   Kelly Lepo (kellylepo@astrodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Dec-2023 15:04:21 JST Kelly Lepo

   Here is a new 4-color #JWST image of the planet Uranus, along with its rings and moons, adding two filters to the 2-color version released earlier this year.

   The labeled blue, star-like things are Uranus' moons, including its five major moons: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. We also see a smattering of the smaller moons near the rings, named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

   More: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-150

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     Kelly Lepo (kellylepo@astrodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Dec-2023 15:04:23 JST Kelly Lepo

     in reply to

     Uranus is an oddball planet — it spins on its side, tilted about 98 degrees so that its rotational axis is almost parallel to the plane of its orbit. This means that for about a quarter of its 84-year-long orbit, one pole gets all of the sunlight (summer), and the other is plunged into darkness (winter). Uranus is approaching its northern summer solstice, which will happen in 2028.

     In this image, we can see the bright white northern polar cap and bright storms at lower latitudes.