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Neptune (NIRCam)

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.

This image of the Neptune system, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), reveals stunning views of the planet’s rings, which have not been seen with this clarity in more than three decades. Webb’s new image of Neptune also captures details of the planet’s turbulent, windy atmosphere.

Neptune, an ice giant, has an interior that is much richer in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, like methane, than the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Methane appears blue in visible wavelengths but, as evident in Webb’s image, that’s not the case in the near-infrared.

Methane so strongly absorbs red and infrared light that the planet is quite dark at near-infrared wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present. These methane-ice clouds are prominent in Webb’s image as bright streaks and spots, which reflect sunlight before it is absorbed by methane gas.

To the upper left of the planet in this image, one of Neptune’s moons, Triton, also sports Webb’s distinctive eight diffraction spikes, an artifact of the telescope’s structure. Webb also captured 6 more of Neptune’s 14 known moons, along with a smattering of distant galaxies that appear as dim splotches and a nearby star.

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)

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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.
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 infrared 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

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

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.

Neptune (NIRCam) Labeled

In this version of Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image of Neptune, the planet’s visible moons are labeled. Neptune has 14 known satellites, and seven of them are visible in this image. Triton, the bright spot of light in the upper left of this image, far outshines Neptune...

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.

Neptune Close Up (NIRCam)

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...

Image titled “Neptune Wide Field (NIRCam).” Hundreds of small galaxies appear around the field of view, and just a little off-center is a glowing sphere. At 11 o’clock to the glowing sphere, there is a very bright point of light with eight diffraction spikes. The colors of the galaxies that splatter across the image vary. Some are shades of orange, others are white. Most appear as fuzzy white ovals. The bright stars have diffraction spikes, forming an eight-pointed star shape. At the bottom left of the image, there is a very small barred spiral galaxy, which glows light blue.

Neptune Wide Field (NIRCam)

In this image by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), a smattering of hundreds of background galaxies, varying in size and shape, appear alongside the Neptune system. Neptune, when compared to Earth, is a big planet. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Neptune would be as big...

Image titled “Neptune Wide Field (NIRCam)” with compass arrows and color key. In the center is a small, glowing sphere accompanied by a bright point of light with eight spikes. Hundreds of small galaxies splatter the black background, some are orange and others are white. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points in the 11 o’clock direction. The east arrow points toward 8 o’clock. Below the image is a color key showing NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. NIRCam Filters from left to right: F140M is blue; F210M is green; F300M is red; F460W is red.

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
Nov 18, 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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