The James Webb Space Telescope has captured stunning images of Jupiter along with its auroras, distinctly revealing its rings and two of its moons.
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the most powerful, expensive, and complex telescope ever built, valued at approximately $10 billion. It is an international scientific collaboration involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), generating significant anticipation among scientists.
Sharp image of Jupiter captured by the James Webb Telescope. (Photo: NASA, ESA).
This technological “gem” is equipped with a 6.4-meter diameter mirror, serving as a highly sensitive “eye” that allows us to observe Jupiter like never before, thanks to the NIRCam infrared camera on the James Webb.
NIRCam is equipped with filters that enable us to capture light at wavelengths typically invisible to the human eye, but the intensity of that light has been converted for representation in the images.
On August 22, 2022, the image captured by the James Webb Telescope clearly showed the two poles of the massive gas giant’s auroras.
This auroral phenomenon also occurs on Earth, generated by solar storms, but is about 100 times weaker than that on Jupiter.
In our vast Solar System, the most energetic auroras are produced from the material ejected from Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, and their interaction with the Jovian atmosphere.
In August 2021, a study using observations from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii revealed that these auroras function as a radiator, providing heat to the entire planet.
These luminous phenomena are among the most captivating features of the giant, such as its famous “Great Red Spot”: it appears white in the published images due to the immense amount of sunlight it reflects.
The rings and moons of Jupiter. (Photo: NASA, ESA).
The images captured by the NIRCam have provided us with detailed views of Jupiter’s environment: notably, we see its faint glowing rings, which are a million times dimmer than the planet itself, along with two small Jovian moons named Amalthea and Adrastea.
