NASA reveals 'incredible' Jupiter views taken from world's most powerful space telescope
23 August 2022, 09:02
The world's newest and biggest space telescope has captured "incredible" Jupiter views - including its several moons and auroras.
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NASA's James Webb space telescope took the photos in July, capturing unprecedented views of Jupiter's northern and southern lights, and swirling polar haze.
The planet's auroras could be seen shining in a filter that is mapped to redder colours.
Meanwhile, the Great Red Spot - a famous storm so big it could swallow Earth - appears white.
One wide-field picture is particularly dramatic, showing the faint rings around the planet, as well as two tiny moons against a glittering background of galaxies.
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Planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, who helped lead the observation, said: "We've never seen Jupiter like this. It's all quite incredible.
"We hadn't really expected it to be this good, to be honest."
She added: "It's really remarkable that we can see details on Jupiter together with its rings, tiny satellites, and even galaxies in one image."
The fuzzy spots in the lower background of the the wide-field view are the galaxies "photobombing" Jupiter, the space agency said.
The infrared images were artificially coloured in blue, white, green, yellow and orange, according to the US-French research team, to make the features stand out.
NASA and the European Space Agency's £8.5 billion successor to the Hubble Space Telescope rocketed away at the end of last year and has been observing the cosmos in the infrared since summer - including views of the Cartwheel Galaxy and deepest parts of the universe.
Scientists hope to behold the dawn of the universe with Webb, peering all the way back to when the first stars and galaxies were forming 13.7 billion years ago.
