Neptune and rings shine in photos from new space telescope
Neptune and its rings haven't looked this good in decades.
NASA released new glamour shots of our solar system's outermost planet Wednesday taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. The pictures taken in July show not only Neptune's thin rings, but its faint dust bands, never before observed in the infrared, as well as seven of its 14 known moons.
Webb showed Jupiter at its best in a series of fresh photos released last month.
Launched less than a year ago, the US$10 billion Webb is spending most of its time peering much deeper into the universe. Astronomers hope to see back to almost the beginning of time when the first stars and galaxies were forming.
NASA's Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to see Neptune in all its gaseous glory, during a 1989 flyby. No other spacecraft have visited the icy, blue planet. So it's been three decades since astronomers last saw these rings with such detail and clarity, said the Space Science Institute's Heidi Hammel, a planetary astronomer working with Webb.
Hammel tweeted that she wept when she saw the rings, yelling and making "my kids, my mom, even my cats look."
Webb is the world's biggest, most powerful telescope, operating 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometres) from Earth. It rocketed into space last December.
The observatory is in good health, according to NASA, except for one item.
NASA reported this week that a mechanism on one of Webb's instruments showed signs of increased friction late last month in one of four observing modes. Observations are on hold in this one particular observing track, as a review board decides on a path forward.
------
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content
RISKIN REPORTS
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

'There was a Nazi in the chamber': Tensions flare in the House over Speaker's recognition
Tensions flared in the House of Commons on Monday morning over opposition calls for House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to resign after apologizing to the House of Commons for inviting, recognizing and leading the chamber in a standing ovation for a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
BREAKING U.K. police open sexual offences investigation after allegations about Russell Brand
British police have opened a sex crimes investigation triggered by news reports about comedian Russell Brand.
Canada travel advisory to India updated to include protests, 'negative sentiments'
Canada has updated its travel advisory for India to include warnings about protests and 'negative sentiments' towards Canadians in light of a recent breakdown in Canada-India relations.
We carry DNA from extinct cousins like Neanderthals. Science is now revealing their genetic legacy
Using the new and rapidly improving ability to piece together fragments of ancient DNA, scientists are finding that traits inherited from Neanderthals are still with us now, affecting our fertility, our immune systems, even how our bodies handled the COVID-19 virus.
Four in 10 child patients face unsafe spinal surgery wait times in Canada: report
Four out of ten child patients in Canada are facing unsafe spinal surgery wait times, which could cost the health-care system $44.6 million, according to a new report that was published Monday.
Toronto woman hospitalized overseas with botulism
A Toronto woman has been hospitalized in France with a severe case of botulism after eating improperly preserved sardines at a Bordeaux wine bar.
RCMP demolish last structure at Quebec's Roxham Road migrant crossing
The last RCMP building is coming down at Roxham Road, which became an unofficial border crossing used by more than 100,000 migrants crossing into Canada from Upstate New York to apply for asylum since 2017.
Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh as Turkish president is set to visit Azerbaijan
Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set to visit Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally.
UN rights experts decry war crimes by Russia in Ukraine and look into genocide allegations
Independent UN-backed human rights experts said Monday they have turned up continued evidence of war crimes committed by Russian forces in their war against Ukraine, including torture -- some of it with such "brutality" that it led to death -- and rape of women aged up to 83 years old.