NASA

NASA's Newest Pictures of Jupiter Offer a Unique Look at Rings and Auroras

The images from the James Webb Space Telescope show our solar system’s largest planet in stunning detail, providing a valuable glimpse of the inner workings of the gas giant

NASA In this wide-field view, Webb sees Jupiter with its faint rings, which are a million times fainter than the planet, and two tiny moons called Amalthea and Adrastea.

In between spotting distant galaxy clusters, busy star-forming regions and never-before-seen cosmic features, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has trained its eyes on a subject closer to home, capturing spectacular new views of auroras, giant storms and swirling clouds on Jupiter.

The images, released Monday by NASA, show our solar system's largest planet in stunning detail, providing a valuable glimpse of the inner workings of the gas giant.

Imke de Pater, an emeritus professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, said she was surprised by Webb's observations of Jupiter.

"We hadn’t really expected it to be this good, to be honest," de Pater, who led the observations of Jupiter with colleagues from the Paris Observatory, said in a statement.

NASA
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new images of Jupiter. This image comes from the observatory’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which has three specialized infrared filters that showcase details of the planet.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

Exit mobile version