The James Webb Space Telescope of the American space agency NASA has captured images of Jupiter that show the planet in great detail. The images captured on July 27 show Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere with giant storms, powerful winds, auroras, extreme temperature, and pressure conditions. According to NASA, the James Webb telescope also spotted Jupiter’s thin rings made of dust particles from debris, visible auroras at Jupiter’s northern and southern poles, and two of the planet’s moons- Amalthea and Adrastea.
“We hadn’t really expected it to be this good, to be honest,” said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, who led the observations of Jupiter Webb’s Early Release Science program.
Here is the image:
The James Webb observatory captures the images through its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which has three specialised infrared filters that showcase details of the planet.
The standalone view of Jupiter was created using a composition of several images from the James Webb telescope and it shows auroras extend to high altitudes above both the northern and southern poles of Jupiter. The auroras shine in a filter that is mapped to redder colours highlighting light reflected from lower clouds and upper hazes.
Another filter, mapped to yellows and greens, shows hazes swirling around the northern and southern poles of Jupiter. The third filter, mapped to blues, showcases light that is reflected from a deeper main cloud.
The Great Red Spot, an enormous storm that has been swirling for many centuries, and other clouds seen in the photos appear white in colour because of the reflection of sunlight.
One wide-field image presents a unique lineup of Jupiter, its faint rings and two of Jupiter’s smaller moons – Amalthea and Adrastea – against a background of galaxies, according to NASA.
Pitched as the most advanced telescope ever made by mankind, the James Webb Telescope was launched into space in December 2021. The telescope was developed as part of an international collaboration led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies.
Credit: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Captures Stunning Images of Jupiter with Auroras (msn.com)
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