                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 August 30

                    Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope
     Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; Processing: Ricardo
                       Hueso (UPV/EHU) & Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: This new view of Jupiter is illuminating. High-resolution
   infrared images of Jupiter from the new James Webb Space Telescope
   (Webb) reveal, for example, previously unknown differences between
   high-floating bright clouds -- including the Great Red Spot -- and
   low-lying dark clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image
   are Jupiter's dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's
   moons Amalthea and Adrastea. Large volcanic moon Io's magnetic
   funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the
   southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably
   diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the
   Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over 6 meters across making it the
   largest astronomical telescope ever launched -- with 15 times more
   light-collecting area than Hubble.

                      Tomorrow's picture: unusual mars
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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