NASA has caught auroras shining on the most distant planet in the solar system, Neptune. The space agency shared photos of the solar phenomenon taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. This is the first time that auroras have been captured on Neptune, a gas giant that lives in the farthest reaches of the solar system.

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Sharing photos of the auroras on Neptune, NASA wrote, For the first time, we can see auroras on Neptune – thanks to 
@NASAWebb." 

"Astronomers had seen hints before, but near-infrared light data confirms Neptune has auroras, like other gas giant planets in our solar system."

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Auroras occur when solar flares interact with the magnetic field of a planet and hit the upper atmosphere. These colourful occurrences are common on Earth, especially with the sun going through a period of solar maximum.

Neptune was the only giant where auroras had not been detected before

Scientists have long suspected that Neptune also witnesses auroras, however, there have never been confirmed sightings.

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When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, astronomers picked up hints of auroras on the planet. In the past, auroras have been detected on Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Neptune was the only giant planet that had not shown any auroral activity yet, which now stands changed.

The photos shared by NASA show how the Webb views Neptune as opposed to the Hubble Telescope. The Hubble side doesn't show the auroras, which can only be seen in the photo captured by Webb in combination with the Hubble.

Stunning auroras could only be picked up by Webb

The lead author of the study, Henrik Melin of Northumbria University, said, “Turns out, actually imaging the auroral activity on Neptune was only possible with Webb’s near-infrared sensitivity."

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He conducted the research at the University of Leicester. “It was so stunning to not just see the auroras, but the detail and clarity of the signature really shocked me.”

Data on the auroras on Neptune was picked up by Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph in 2023. Astronomers measured the temperature of the planet’s upper atmosphere through a spectrum and checked its composition, which led them to find a prominent emission line. This meant that trihydrogen cation (H3+) was present in the ionosphere. 

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H3+ can only be created in auroras. “H3+ has a been a clear signifier on all the gas giants — Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus — of auroral activity, and we expected to see the same on Neptune as we investigated the planet over the years," Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy said.

“Only with a machine like Webb have we finally gotten that confirmation.”

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Unlike on Earth, auroras on Neptune do not appear at the poles but occur at the planet’s geographic mid-latitudes, a point where South America is on Earth. This is because the planet's magnetic field is tilted by 47 degrees from the planet’s rotation axis, a discovery made by the Voyager in 1989.