NASA's Webb Telescope has done it again with new photo showing Uranus and its rings

New photos of our solar system's seventh planet, Uranus, highlight the ice giant's dramatic rings and bright features.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope took the image, which is only the third facility that has been able to capture Uranus's faint dusty rings. The telescope recently took photos of Neptune, and "the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far."

"It is just the tip of the iceberg of what Webb can do when observing this mysterious planet," NASA said in a release. "Additional studies of Uranus are happening now, and more are planned in Webb’s first year of science operations."

How many rings does Uranus have?

The planet has 13 known rings, and 11 of them are visible in this new image, though some of them appear to merge into a larger ring.

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What are seasons like on Uranus?

The planet is unique, NASA said in a press release. It rotates on its side, almost at a 90-degree angle, which means the planet has extreme seasons. The planet's poles experience years of continual sunlight followed by years of complete darkness, over the 84 years it takes to orbit the Sun.

"Currently, it is late spring for the northern pole, which is visible here," the release said. "Uranus’ northern summer will be in 2028."

The bright white area seen in the Webb image shows a brightening on the pole facing the Sun, called a polar cap.

"This polar cap is unique to Uranus – it seems to appear when the pole enters direct sunlight in the summer and vanish in the fall," the release said.

Why is Uranus called an 'ice giant'?

According to NASA, the planet is an ice giant because it's believed most of its mass is "a hot, dense fluid of 'icy' materials — water, methane and ammonia — above a small rocky core."

How many moons does Uranus have?

Something else captured with the new Webb Telescope images are many of Uranus's 27 known moons, though many of are too small and faint to be seen.

The six brightest are identified in the 12-minute exposure image: Umbriel, Ariel, Puck, Miranda, Titania and Oberon.

The image also shows background objects, including several galaxies.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: New photos of Uranus taken by NASA Webb Telescope