Neptune and its rings shown in striking new light by Webb telescope

The James Webb space telescope has turned its gaze away from the deep universe towards our home solar system, capturing an image of a luminous Neptune and its delicate, dusty rings in detail not seen in decades.

Neptune appears as deep blue in previous images taken by the Hubble space telescope due to methane in its atmosphere.

As astronomers sweep the universe searching for other planets like our own, they have found that ice giants such as Neptune and Uranus are the most common in the Milky Way.

Operational since July, Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever built, and has already unleashed copious unprecedented data. Scientists are hopeful it will herald a new era of discovery.