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Neptune Close Up (NIRCam)

Image has a mostly dark background and at the center of the image is a glowing sphere, mostly white, almost neon, with a few extremely bright patches of methane-ice clouds splattered throughout the sphere’s bottom half. The glowing sphere is accompanied by several narrow, faint rings— 2 thinner, crisper rings and 2 broader, fainter rings. There are 6 tiny white dots, some floating among the black background near the sphere, others placed among the rings. These are 6 of Neptune’s 14 moons. In the top right corner of the image is a very dim splotch.

Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image of Neptune, taken on July 12, 2022, brings the planet’s rings into full focus for the first time in more than three decades.

The most prominent features of Neptune’s atmosphere in this image are a series of bright patches in the planet’s southern hemisphere that represent high-altitude methane-ice clouds. More subtly, a thin line of brightness circling the planet’s equator could be a visual signature of global atmospheric circulation that powers Neptune’s winds and storms. Additionally, for the first time, Webb has teased out a continuous band of high-latitude clouds surrounding a previously-known vortex at Neptune’s southern pole.

NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    Neptune's average distance from Earth is 2.7 billion miles

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    This image was created from JWST data from proposal: 2739 (K. Pontoppidan).  

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    12 July 2022
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F140M, F210M, F300M, F460M
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Neptune
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Gas giant
  • Release Date
    September 21, 2022
  • Science Release
    New Webb Image Captures Clearest View of Neptune’s Rings in Decades
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Naomi Rowe-Gurney (NASA-GSFC)

Downloads

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Image has a mostly dark background and at the center of the image is a glowing sphere, mostly white, almost neon, with a few extremely bright patches of methane-ice clouds splattered throughout the sphere’s bottom half. The glowing sphere is accompanied by several narrow, faint rings— 2 thinner, crisper rings and 2 broader, fainter rings. There are 6 tiny white dots, some floating among the black background near the sphere, others placed among the rings. These are 6 of Neptune’s 14 moons. In the top right corner of the image is a very dim splotch.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample different infraraed wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Red: F460M Orange: F300M Green: F210M Blue: F140M

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Image has a mostly dark background with one extremely bright point of light that dominates the upper left quadrant of the image and a glowing sphere towards the bottom middle of the image. The extremely bright point of light at the upper left of the image has 8 spikes pointing out from a center bright point like a compass. The glowing sphere, is mostly white, almost neon, with a few extremely bright patches of methane-ice clouds. The glowing sphere is accompanied by several narrow, faint rings and 6 tiny white dots, which are Neptune's moons. Splattered throughout the mostly black background are about 10 small, dim circles of distant galaxies.

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Image has a mostly dark background with one extremely bright point of light that dominates the upper left quadrant of the image and a glowing sphere towards the bottom middle of the image. The extremely bright point of light at the upper left of the image has 8 spikes pointing out from a center bright point like a compass. This is labeled Triton. The glowing sphere, is mostly white, almost neon, with a few extremely bright patches of methane-ice clouds. The glowing sphere is accompanied by several narrow, faint rings and 6 tiny white dots, which are Neptune's moons. They are labeled as Galatea, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Proteus and Larissa. Splattered throughout the mostly black background are about 10 small, dim circles of distant galaxies.

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Neptune Wide Field (NIRCam Compass Image)

This image of Neptune and its rings and moons, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), shows compass arrows and a color key for reference. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east...

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Image Processing Credit

Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Naomi Rowe-Gurney (NASA-GSFC)

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