Hi Jupiter, this is the talking James Webb space telescope. Ready for your foreground?
While astronomers and the public have been admiring the incredible images released by the JWST over the past 48 hours, there was one additional stealth target that didn’t make it to the big leagues: the gas giant, Jupiter.
In a launch document detailing the JWST launch activities and characterizing the scientific performance of the next-generation telescope, there is an infrared image of the planet and some of its moons. The paper is available at the Space Telescope Science Institute, but we have the images just below.
Two images of Jupiter captured by Webb’s NIRCam. Three Jovian moons are labeled: Europa, Thebes, and Metis.
NASA / ESA / CSA
Webb turned his eyes to Jupiter as part of testing his performance in tracking moving targets. Webb took two images, using his near-infrared camera (NIRCam), at two different wavelengths. The shortest wavelength uses the F212N filter. The longest wavelength uses the F323N filter. The exposure time was only 75 seconds, which is impressive.
It may not pile up with the sheer amount of images posted over the last 48 hours, this is tough competition, but it’s still pretty contentious. You can see the shadow of Europe and the Great Red Spot and distinguish the bands from the gas giant.
The launch document states that JWST’s ability to track fast-moving objects is actually better than expected (this telescope continues to win) and this opens up the possibility that it may study things like asteroids close to Earth! The paper concludes that, overall, JWST has exceeded its “demanding performance expectations before launch” and is just beginning its many years of scientific discovery.
However, while astronomers are excited about the first batch of images, there have been growing calls to change the name of the JWST for several years, prompting a NASA consultation that appears to be over in 2021. The agency says its expanded investigation into the telescope’s namesake and its role in homophobic government policies is complete and the name will not be changed. NASA has not yet revealed the details of its research, but an update is expected in the coming weeks.