Jupiter, in the center, and its moon Europa, on the left, are seen through the Webb telescope’s NIRCam instrument. (NASA, ESA, CSA, B. Holler, J. Stansberry, STScI)
Estimated reading time: 3-4 minutes
ATLANTA – The first stunning images from the distant universe of the James Webb Space Telescope have been followed by something a little closer to home.
The data collected during the launch period of the telescope, before its scientific operations officially began on July 12, have been published on the website of the Space Telescope Science Institute. Publicly available data is now ready for study by scientists around the world.
These data include new images of Jupiter, which were taken while space observatory instruments were still being tested.
“Combined with deep-field images released the other day, these images of Jupiter demonstrate a full understanding of what Webb can observe, from the faintest, most distant observable galaxies to the planets in our own cosmic courtyard that you can see with your own eyes. naked from your royal courtyard, “Bryan Holler, a scientist at the Baltimore Space Telescope Science Institute, said in a statement.
Holler helped with the planning of the observations.
Webb is an infrared telescope, so it captures light that is invisible to the human eye. One of Webb’s images of Jupiter shows the revealing atmospheric bands of the giant planet as well as the Great Red Spot.
This famous feature is a massive storm about twice the size of the Earth that has been churning for over a century. It looks white in the image due to infrared image processing.
Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is visible to the left of the planet. The shadow of the moon also makes a cameo to the left of the Great Red Spot.
“I couldn’t believe we saw it all so clearly and how brilliant they were,” said Stefanie Milam, an assistant scientist on Webb’s planetary science project based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a communiqué.
“It’s really exciting to think about the ability and opportunity we have to observe these kinds of objects in our solar system.”
Some of Jupiter’s other perspectives on the telescope revealed some of the planet’s faint rings. The images show that Webb is able to observe faint details and objects close to bright planets like Jupiter and Saturn.
I couldn’t believe we saw it all so clearly and how brilliant they were.
–Stefanie Milam, assistant scientist in the Webb project for planetary sciences
This is especially exciting because it means that Webb can also observe feathers of material that are released into space from the oceanic worlds of our solar system, such as Europe or Saturn’s Enceladus moon.
“We will look at our own solar system with new infrared eyes, looking for chemical traces of our history and tracing mysteries like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, the composition of the ocean under the ice of Europe and the atmosphere of the giant moon of Saturn. Titan, “John Mather, a senior scientist on the Webb project at NASA Goddard, said in a statement.
The first images were anticipated by Mather for 25 years. “What comes next? All the tools work, better than we expected and promised. The scientific observations, proposed years ago, are being made as we speak,” Mather said.
“We want to know: where do we come from? What happened after the big bang to make galaxies and black stars and holes? We have predictions and conjectures, but astronomy is an observational science, full of surprises.”
×