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The first scientific images captured by James Webb and released by NASA have left everyone with an open mouth, as the detail shown is unprecedented and is even more evident from a comparison with previous captures by Hubble and other old generation telescopes. But the James Webb did not just turn his gaze to the deep universe, he also tested his instrumentation with one of the most beloved planets in the solar system, namely the gas giant Jupiter.
In reality, the images that we will see shortly were used in the test phase to calibrate the instruments and therefore are much earlier than what we saw last 12 July. The James Webb has framed Jupiter and its moons, showing ghostly details that, again, are unprecedented. Here they are to follow.
Like the first scientific captures, these too are infrared images obtained thanks to the NIRCam instrument of the space telescope through the 2.12 micron filter, but the colors are distorted due to the processing method used. This is why the Great Red Spot appears white. But leaving aside this purely technical detail for a moment, did you notice that shadow visible to his left in the last upper image? This is the shadow of the frozen moon Europa, which is clearly identifiable to the left of the planet.
In the two upper spectral images, the other two natural satellites, Thebe and Metis, are clearly visible, and this ability to observe could prove very useful in the study of some not entirely clear phenomena, such as the famous material plume that emerge from the Moons Enceladus and Europa.
In this last long wave image with 3.23 micron filter it is also possible to see some rings of Jupiter (yes … not only Saturn with them) and in general, it is shown that the power of the James Webb instrumentation will provide a series of additional information to which, to date, we did not have access. We are in fact at the beginning of a new era of astronomical observation, but James Webb will also be able to catch moving objects such as asteroids and comets. During the tests, the telescope aimed at asteroid 6481 Tenzing, which is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, to understand its speed limits in detection.
Although it was designed to track objects moving at the maximum speed of 30 milliarcoseconds per second, which is roughly the speed at which Mars moves from its point of view, the team has shown that Webb will still obtain valuable data with celestial objects moving up to 67. milliarcoseconds per second, which is more than double the design forecast. The future of astronomical observation is looking particularly bright, and who knows if the James Webb will allow us to answer the many unanswered questions about the formation of the universe, dark energy and so on.
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