SETI Institute
@setiinstitute@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago
#PPOD: JWST has now captured images of all four gas giants in our solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These images are the first of their kind, and they offer a new and unprecedented view of these distant worlds.

The JWST's image of Jupiter is particularly stunning. The telescope's infrared vision allows us to see through Jupiter's thick clouds, revealing the planet's swirling atmosphere and its Great Red Spot. The planet's haze and auroras steal the show.

#space #science

Four images from JWST. Upper left: Jupiter in infrared, showing thick and thin cloud bands in white and blue. The Great Red Spot is white and near the four o'clock position. Upper right: Saturn in infrared, with bright rings and a dim planet. Lower left: Uranus in infrared, showing the bright rings and blue planet with a white glow in the middle. Lower right: Neptune in infrared, with faint bands, several tiny moons, and a gray-white planet with several bright spots that are storms.
Four images from JWST. Upper left: Jupiter in infrared, showing thick and thin cloud bands in white and blue. The Great Red Spot is white and near the four o'clock position. Upper right: Saturn in infrared, with bright rings and a dim planet. Lower left: Uranus in infrared, showing the bright rings and blue planet with a white glow in the middle. Lower right: Neptune in infrared, with faint bands, several tiny moons, and a gray-white planet with several bright spots that are storms.
Four images from JWST. Upper left: Jupiter in infrared, showing thick and thin cloud bands in white and blue. The Great Red Spot is white and near the four o'clock position. Upper right: Saturn in infrared, with bright rings and a dim planet. Lower left: Uranus in infrared, showing the bright rings and blue planet with a white glow in the middle. Lower right: Neptune in infrared, with faint bands, several tiny moons, and a gray-white planet with several bright spots that are storms.
SETI Institute
@setiinstitute@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago

The JWST's images of Saturn are also remarkable. The telescope's sharp vision allows us to see the planet's rings in great detail. They appear as vibrant, thick bands glowing with a snowy hue, effortlessly upstaging the muted Saturn lurking in the background. The image also shows Saturn's atmosphere, which is a swirling mass of clouds and storms.
SETI Institute
@setiinstitute@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago

Next, we have the images of Uranus and Neptune. The telescope's infrared vision allows us to see these planets' atmospheres in great detail. We can see the clouds and storms that swirl around these planets, as well as the different colors of their atmospheres. Uranus and Neptune are the least explored planets in the solar system, with Voyager 2 being the only spacecraft to have visited them in the 1980s.

Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI