The James Webb Space Telescope was able to observe Jupiter for the first time. He shows us more impressive images than ever.
Once once more the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) sends us striking images. The astronomical device was sent into space at the beginning of the year and for the past two months, it has been providing us with magnificent shots of our universe.
This time it was Jupiter that was targeted by the JWST. Captured last July and broadcast this Monday, August 22, the images of the largest planet in the solar system are phenomenal and of unprecedented precision. We see auroras, a luminous phenomenon generated by solar storms. They are visible at both poles of the planet.
Several filters used
The telescope used three infrared filters to provide us with its images. The red tones show the auroras. The yellow and green tones, also at the level of the poles, make it possible to identify “swirling” mists. In blue, light reflected from a main cloud is highlighted.
1. Make way for the king of the solar system! ud83dudc51
New Webb images of Jupiter highlight the planet’s features, including its turbulent Great Red Spot (shown in white here), in amazing detail. These images were processed by citizen scientist Judy Schmidt: https://t.co/gwxZOitCE3 pic.twitter.com/saz0u61kJG
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) August 22, 2022
Nasa says “The Great Red Spot, a famous storm so big it might swallow Earth, appears white in these views, as do other clouds, because they reflect lots of sunlight.”
Data turned into photos
As a reminder, the images of James Webb are not received as such by NASA. The device sends “information on the brightness of the light to the Webb detectors” explains the American space agency. It is then the astronomers who process the data in order to transform them into photos.
