Daily News Analysis » Findings Of James Webb Telescope: Jupiter

Findings Of James Webb Telescope: Jupiter

Why in the News?

Recently, the new photographs of Jupiter has been released by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Key Points:

About New Findings of Jupiter Planet

  • Faint Rings Images: It released photographs of faint rings and two small moons — Amalthea and Adrastea.
  • Different Colors: The telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera, with its specialized infrared filters, has shown Jupiter encompassed in blue, green, white, yellow and orange hues.
  • Great Red Spot: Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot, appeared bright white in the image, since it was reflecting a lot of sunlight.
  • Detailed View: The images show auroras, giant storms, moons and rings surrounding Jupiter in detail.
    • Auroras are light shows in the skies above the planet caused by interactions with particles streaming away from the Sun.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST):

    • JWST is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
  • Launch: It was launched in 2021 on a European Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in South America.
    • It is currently observing from Lagrange point 2, approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
  • Lagrange point is a point where net force acting on a body is zero, in any revolving two-body system like Earth and Sun, where the gravitational forces of the two large bodies cancel each other out.

Key Features: 

  • JWST is primarily an infrared telescope which allows it to look much deeper into the universe, and see-through obstructions such as gas clouds
  • It has one large mirror, with a diameter of 21 feet, that will capture the infra-red light coming in from the deep universe while facing away from the Sun.

Goals:

  • To search for the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. 
  • To determine how galaxies evolved from their earlier formation until now.
  • To observe the formation of stars from the first stages to the formation of planetary systems.
  • To measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems and investigate the potential for life in such systems.