Scientists suspected the ice giant hosted auroras—and had already observed them on Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. But an observation of Neptune's lights remained elusive for decades

WASHINGTON (AP) — Neptune's glowing auroras are captured in the best detail yet by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Hints of auroras were first faintly detected in ultraviolet light during a flyby of the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989. Webb captured Neptune's shimmering lights in infrared light, providing direct evidence they exist.

Languages: English. NASA's flagship James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first-ever images of auroral activity on Neptune, after years of tantalizing hints. The images in question of ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The James Webb Space Telescope detected infrared auroras on Neptune for the first time.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have captured direct images of Neptune's elusive auroras for the first time.

Long-Sought Auroral Glow Finally Emerges Under Webb’s Powerful Gaze Neptune lies in the cold, dark reaches of the outer edges of our solar system, about 3 billion miles from the Sun, at the farthest edge of the planetary lineup.

Experts are not sure why Neptune's auroras can be seen around the planet's "mid-latitudes," and not the north and south poles