In the divided society we currently live in, you might wonder, what does anyone truly have in common? Though we all have differences, there’s one commonality that has prevailed for all of humanity: we are all floating on a rock, flying through outer space at over a million miles an hour.
Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology in the past century, we can observe much more of the universe than we ever thought possible.
The scale and sheer size of the universe make it impossible to truly learn everything, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Here's what's happening in space this week.
A NEW LOOK AT THE KING OF PLANETS
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new images of the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. The images published by NASA show the gas giant as we have never seen before with magnificent auroras and glowing storms.
The Webb telescope continues to surpass expectations, and these stunning new images of Jupiter are no exception. Webb’s new observations of the planet even surprised astronomers.
“We hadn’t really expected it to be this good, to be honest,” said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater in a blog post by NASA.
“It’s really remarkable that we can see details on Jupiter together with its rings, tiny satellites, and even galaxies in one image,” she said.
The pair of images released by NASA was made using Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The NIRCam houses three specialized infrared filters which give the observatory the ability to image details of the planet.
The photo of Jupiter and its glowing auroras was achieved using a composite of several images. The auroras are mapped using red, the hazes swirling around both poles are mapped using green, and the blue filter highlights light reflected from a deeper main cloud, according to NASA.
This new perspective of Jupiter is not only remarkably beautiful but also contains data that will help scientists piece together more clues about the massive planet’s formation and inner life.
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