Check Out New Insightful Images Of Jupiter Captured By NASA Telescope
By David Wetzel
New York (Knewz) — NASA really outdid itself this time.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured new pictures of Jupiter, showing giant storms, powerful winds, auroras and extreme temperature and pressure conditions.
"We hadn't really expected it to be this good, to be honest," said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, professor emerita of the University of California, Berkeley.
De Pater headed the observations of Jupiter with Thierry Fouchet, a professor at the Paris Observatory, as part of an international project for Webb's Early Release Science program.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is an international mission by the space agency and its partners ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
"It's really remarkable that we can see details on Jupiter together with its rings, tiny satellites, and even galaxies in one image," de Pater said.
The images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope feature three specialized infrared filters, according to the space agency. They show auroras extending to high altitudes above the northern and southern poles of Jupiter.
Another filter, mapped to yellows and greens, displays hazes swirling around the northern and southern poles. Lastly, a third, mapped to blues, show light that is reflected from a deeper main cloud.
According to the space agency, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's pictures feature a shot of the Great Red Spot, a famous storm so big it could swallow earth, as it shows up white, along with other clouds, as they reflect heavy sunlight.
"The brightness here indicates high altitude – so the Great Red Spot has high-altitude hazes, as does the equatorial region," said Heidi Hammel, Webb interdisciplinary scientist for solar system observations and vice president for science at AURA. "The numerous bright white 'spots' and 'streaks' are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms."
TMX contributed to this story.
New NASA images show close-up looks of Jupiter. By: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt / SCI + TECH /TMX
David Wetzel A news editor and writer, David Wetzel has eclipsed 20 years in journalism. He has worked in sports, news, features and breaking news roles over two decades and has won awards in sports, news, features and headline writing.
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