Revealing an Ice Giant in the Infrared: Uranus from JWST

Once beyond the limits of the known Solar System, Uranus remains among the most intriguing and least explored bodies in planetary science. Tilted more than 90˚on its side, it experiences extreme seasonal variation in daylight over its 84-year orbit, with much of the planet falling into four decades of complete daylight or darkness. Yet, our knowledge and understanding of how Uranus’ atmosphere responds to these extremes is surprisingly poor. With atmospheric temperatures as cold as any giant planet yet observed, Uranus has been a particularly challenging for infrared investigations, which are our primary means of remotely inferring the temperatures and chemistry. Now, thanks to the unprecedented capabilities of JWST, we can reveal new views of Uranus spanning the infrared for the first time, opening a window into their chemical and thermal structure. In this talk, we will introduce the JWST observations of Uranus and share new insights into the atmospheric composition, temperature, and clouds of this odd and enigmatic planet.