{"id":309609,"date":"2026-02-21T09:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309609\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T09:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:45:11","slug":"scientists-capture-all-new-3d-view-of-uranus-and-go-inside-planets-upper-atmosphere-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309609\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists capture all-new 3D view of Uranus and go inside planet’s upper atmosphere for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists at a British university have produced the first 3D map of Uranus, offering an unprecedented view of the ice giant’s upper atmosphere.<\/p>\n

A research team at Northumbria University utilised Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope to observe the distant planet through nearly a complete rotation.<\/p>\n

Their work mapped temperature and ion density within Uranus’s electrically-charged atmospheric layer situated approximately 3,100 miles above the cloud tops.<\/p>\n

Uranus remains among the least studied planets in our solar system, and sits more than one billion miles from Earth.<\/p>\n

But the new findings, led by Paola Tiranti, provide the clearest picture to date of where the planet’s distinctive auroras – like Earth’s Northern Lights<\/a> – come from.<\/p>\n

Observations revealed two bright auroral bands positioned near the planet’s magnetic poles.<\/p>\n

These poles are notably lopsided and tilted at nearly 60 degrees from the planet’s axis.<\/p>\n

This unusual orientation causes the auroras to move across the planetary surface in intricate patterns.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

PICTURED: Astronomers’ 3D view of Uranus.The new views provide the clearest picture to date of where the planet’s distinctive auroras come from<\/p>\n

| HUBBLEWEBBESA\/YOUTUBE<\/p>\n

The James Webb data also identified a zone of reduced emission and lower ion density between the two auroral bands.<\/p>\n

Researchers believe this feature may relate to how the planet’s magnetic field channels charged particles.<\/p>\n

Similar behaviour has been observed on Jupiter.<\/p>\n

The auroras release energy that produces a characteristic glow which can be picked up by the telescope’s sensitive instruments.<\/p>\n

“This is the first time we’ve been able to see Uranus’s upper atmosphere in three dimensions,” Ms Tiranti said.<\/p>\n

SPACE HEADLINES – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

The new imagery was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope<\/p>\n

| NASA\"Uranus\"\/<\/p>\n

Scientists saw two bright auroral bands positioned near the planet’s magnetic poles<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

HUBBLEWEBBESA<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Temperature measurements showed peaks between 1,864 miles and 2,485 miles above the cloud tops.<\/p>\n

Ion densities reached their highest concentration at around 621 miles high.<\/p>\n

“By revealing Uranus’s vertical structure in such detail, Webb is helping us understand the energy balance of the ice giants,” Ms Tiranti said.<\/p>\n

\"Uranus\"\/<\/p>\n

The research confirmed that Uranus’s upper atmosphere is still cooling<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

NASA<\/p>\n

“This is a crucial step towards characterising giant planets beyond our Solar System.”<\/p>\n

The research confirmed that Uranus’s upper atmosphere is still cooling, extending a pattern first detected in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n

Scientists recorded an average temperature of approximately 426 Kelvin – roughly 150C, which is lower than previous ground-based or spacecraft measurements.<\/p>\n

Understanding this cooling trend could offer vital insights into how ice giant planets manage their atmospheric temperatures.<\/p>\n

The new findings appear in Geophysical Research Letters as part of an international collaboration involving the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists at a British university have produced the first 3D map of Uranus, offering an unprecedented view of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[61,60,82,40822,247],"class_list":["post-309609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-sgg","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}