This timelapse shows a full rotation of Uranus captured by NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Thanks to its orbit at L2, Webb was able to observe the planet for approximately 17 hours continuously. 

The video consists of over 1200 slices of multi-object spectroscopy data. By mapping distribution and temperature of hydrogen in its molecular and trihydrogen form, these observations provide the most detailed view to date of Uranus’ vertical upper atmosphere. The video shows where temperatures and densities of charged particles peak, and reveals clear auroral structures shaped by the planet’s unusual magnetic field.

Using Webb’s NIRSpec instrument, the team detected the faint glow from molecules high above the clouds. These unique data provide the most detailed portrait yet of where the planet’s auroras form, how they are influenced by its unusually tilted magnetic field, and how Uranus’s atmosphere has continued to cool over the past three decades. The results offer a new window into how ice-giant planets distribute energy in their upper layers.

Read more.