NASA Reveals New Pictures of Jupiter

Facts

• On Mon., NASA released new images of Jupiter, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
• The infrared images show detailed views of the gas giant's turbulent atmosphere, capturing its Great Red Spot - a storm that has been raging for centuries and is big enough to swallow Earth. Jupiter's auroras, rings, and two of its moons, Amalthea and Adrastea, can also be seen.
• The images were taken with the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which can detect light from the earliest stars and galaxies. Since JWST observes in infrared light - which is invisible to the human eye - the images don't show the colors as they would look to the naked eye.
• With the help of citizen scientist Judy Schmidt of Modesto, California, the images were processed and artificially colored in blue, white, green, yellow, and orange to make the features stand out.
• The JWST, launched in 2021, is the successor to NASA's legacy Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists hope the JWST will help them behold the dawn of the universe.
• Positioned 1M miles from Earth, the $10B telescope is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.

Sources: Business Insider, Space, Forbes, and New York Post.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Bloomberg. This is a massive achievement, but also a massive risk. A $10B investment into a single platform is a tremendous gamble - if anything should ever happen to the JWST it could set astronomy back by a generation. NASA needs to find more cost-effective, safe, and innovative ways to spur future innovation in the astrophysics field.
• Narrative B, as provided by Washington Post. While admittedly the stakes of developing and using the JSWT are high, everyone involved in the project has approached it with caution, and it has clearly paid off. From effective cooperation to groundbreaking discovery, this telescope has seen tremendous success on all fronts, and this is only the beginning.