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The rings of #Uranus! We combined thermal-infrared imaging from the @ESO Very Large Telescope with millimetre imaging from ALMA to make the first ever detection of thermal emission from the rings: Molter et al. arxiv.org/abs/1905.12566
news.berkeley.edu/2019/06/20/ast…
news.berkeley.edu/2019/06/20/ast…
What's amazing about this is that the #Uranus observations were targeting the thermal structure of the atmosphere. When I first processed the data, I was astonished to see the rings. That's never happened before.
I actually thought I'd messed up and created artefacts in the mid-IR imaging... (heh, wouldn't be the first time). It was only when I zoomed out that I realised what I was seeing.
The #Uranus thermal data was not supposed to be taken... the panel rejected us. But our Jupiter programme was getting harder and harder to finish (it was sinking lower in the sky), so they offered to let me change target and.... heypresto... discovery!
So maybe, just maybe, it's time for us to launch the first dedicated mission to the @IcyGiants? Why not join us at #IceGiants2020 in London?
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