The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided two surprisingly accurate new images showing Jupiter’s giant storms and extreme winds, offering scientists additional clues about life on this planet.

The quality of the details was not expected to be “very good,” according to Imke de Pater, professor emeritus at the University of California and assistant director of observations, the US space agency (NASA) celebrated this Monday.

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The published photos allow us to see the auroras extending at high altitudes over Jupiter’s north and south poles. These images come from a near infrared camera (NIRcam) with three infrared filters.

Since infrared light is not visible to the human eye, this light is mapped to the visible spectrum. Longer wavelengths tend to appear redder and shorter wavelengths more blue.

“Big Red Spot”

In these snapshots, the “Great Red Spot”, a sandstorm large enough to “swallow Earth” according to NASA, is clearly visible, and this time it appears white because it reflects too much sunlight.

Heidi Hammel, a Webb scientist, details in the explanation that the luminosity is a sign of high altitude, and therefore the large spot has “high altitude blur”.

The images also show the rings of Jupiter, which is “a million times fainter than the planet,” according to the note, and two smaller moons, Amalthea and Adrasthea.

Researchers began to analyze received data that did not come to Earth in a regular package, but needed to be converted into images.

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These last two were handled by Judy Schmidt, who showed the planet’s small moons and collaborated with Ricardo Hueso at the University of the Basque Country whose research deals with the study of planetary atmospheres.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a joint mission. POT It was launched in December with the European agency (ESA) and the Canadian agency (CSA).

It is the largest ever sent into space, providing a never-before-seen view of the universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths, and makes it possible to study a wide variety of celestial objects, from neighboring galaxies to the most galaxies. distances of the universe.

Big news from the giant planet!@NASAWebb Capturing a new image of Jupiter in infrared light has revealed clues to the planet’s inner life. Two moons, rings and distant galaxies are visible. Get the details: https://t.co/6WKbAQY78z pic.twitter.com/9uaACCPGyU

— NASA (@NASA) 22 August 2022