"This is the first time we've been able to see Uranus's upper atmosphere in three dimensions. With Webb's sensitivity, we can trace how energy moves upward through the planet's atmosphere and even see the influence of its lopsided magnetic field."
"Uranus is the only planet whose equator is almost at a right angle to its orbit, an astonishing tilt of 97.77 degrees. Its magnetic axis, on the other hand, has a large tilt relative to its rotation axis, making its magnetosphere a significant outlier compared to other planets."
Uranus, visited only once by Voyager 2 in 1986, is now being studied in unprecedented detail by the James Webb Space Telescope. The observatory's Near-Infrared Spectrograph observed the ice giant for nearly a full rotation, providing the most detailed picture of its atmosphere to date. The observations reveal how Uranus's ionosphere interacts with its magnetic field and demonstrate where auroras form on the planet's surface. Uranus possesses a uniquely tilted magnetic axis relative to its rotation axis, with its equator tilted 97.77 degrees to its orbit. The findings support theories that Uranus's upper atmosphere continues cooling, a trend first observed in the early 1990s. The planet's extreme tilt causes its auroras to behave differently than those on other planets.
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