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Credit & Copyright: Cornell U.
Explanation:
Neptune has never looked so clear in
infrared light.
Neptune is the eighth most distant planet from the Sun,
thirty times the Earth-Sun distance.
Neptune is the fourth largest planet,
almost four times Earth's diameter.
Surprisingly, Neptune
radiates about twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun.
A fascinating feature of the above photograph is that it was taken far from distant
Neptune,
through the Earth's normally blurry atmosphere.
The great clarity of this recently released image was made
possible by "rubber mirror"
adaptive optics technology.
Here, mirrors in the new
Palomar High Angular Resolution Observer
(PHARO) instrument connected to the
200-inch Hale Telescope
flex to remove the effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Neptune - infrared
Publications with words: Neptune - infrared
See also: