In the past half century, robotic space probes have radically changed our understanding of the outer solar system. Not only did they send back vast collections of data, they also provided us with stunning images of planets that previously had only blurred images on photographic plates.

Unfortunately, the technology of these probes was primitive by today’s standards, and some planets were only visible during short flybys, giving us essentially snapshots. An example is the seventh planet, Uranus, which was visited only once during Voyager 2’s exit flight from the solar system.

Voyager’s visit revealed many mysteries, the composition of the upper atmosphere and the first photographic evidence of the existence of the rings of Uranus. It also sent the first close-up images of the planet, although they showed it as a featureless ball.

Now, new images in the 1.4 and 3.0 μm infrared bands from JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) add to this know-how with eye-pleasing images. The new images show the unique orientation of Uranus, meaning its spin axis is at nearly right angles to the orbital plane. This means that as it orbits the Sun every 84 years, one pole is left in almost complete darkness while the other is bathed in endless sunlight for 42 years.

As Uranus’ northern hemisphere transitions from spring to summer in 2028, this is of great interest to scientists because this contrast creates extreme weather that could provide new insights into how Earth’s climate works.

The new images show that part of the planet has a bright region in both hemispheres known as the polar cap, which appears in summer and disappears in autumn. It is not clear at this time why this happens. The new images also show that the cover has an unprecedented bright spot in the middle. In addition, there is a bright cloud and extended features on the edge of the cap, and a second bright cloud outside the cap that may be a storm or somehow associated with it.