The most surprising thing about this new image, nothing short of sublime, is that it shows Neptune's rings as never done before. Oh yes, Neptune, like Saturn, also has rings!
It's been 30 years since these were first detected by NASA's Voyager 2 probe.
Webb's image quality now, however, allows it to detect even the fainter ones closer to the planet.
Neptune orbits in the remote, dark region of the outer solar system. At that extreme distance, the Sun is so small and dim that at midday it is similar to a dim twilight on Earth.
This means that there is very little visible light reflected by Neptune and is why it is so difficult to observe it with normal telescopes. Infrared images from the space telescope, however, can make us see it brighter because this type of light is reflected much more.
Compared to gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune is much richer in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Clouds of methane and ice then appear, clearly visible as streaks and bright spots.
Just think, on this planet winds can exceed 1000 km/h!