Following the release of the first images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on Tuesday, data from the telescope's commissioning period are now being released from the Space Telescope Science Institute's Mikulski Space Telescope Archives. The data include images of Jupiter and images and spectra of several asteroids that were captured to test the telescope's instruments before the science operation officially begins on July 12. These data demonstrate Webb tracking solar system targets and producing images and spectra with unprecedented detail. The background of the
space is black. Jupiter is on the right, with brown and white stripes. On the left, Europa is a very small dark circle surrounded by a bright spot with six diffraction spikes.
Jupiter (center) and its moon Europa (left) are seen through the 2.12 micron filter of the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
In these images seen through the Webb Infrared Gaze, fans of Jupiter will recognize some familiar features of our solar system's giant planet. A view from the NIRCam instrument's shortwave filter showing different wavelength bands circling the Earth and the Great Red Spot, a storm large enough to swallow the Earth. The signature spots in this image appear white because of the way Webb's infrared images are processed.
"Combined with the deep field images released a few days ago, these images of Jupiter demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of everything Webb can observe, from the faintest and most distant observable galaxies to the planets in our own cosmic backyard, you can use Naked eyes from your literal backyard," said Brian Holler, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore who helped plan the observations.
On the left, Jupiter glows yellow with dark orange streaks. To the right, Jupiter appears bright yellow with hints of deep orange.
Left: Jupiter, the center, and its moons Europa, Thebes, and Metis are seen through the 2.12-micron filter of the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument. Right: Jupiter and Europa, Thebe and Metis are seen through NIRCam's 3.23 micron filter. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
Clearly visible on the left is Europa, a satellite that may have an ocean beneath its thick icy crust and the site of NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper The goal of the task. What's more, Europa's shadow can be seen to the left of the Great Red Spot. Other satellites visible in these images include Thebe and Metis.
"I couldn't believe how clearly we could see everything, how bright it was," said Stefanie Milam, Webb deputy project scientist for planetary science at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's exciting to think that we have the ability and opportunity to observe such objects in our solar system."
Scientists are particularly eager to see these images because they demonstrate that Webb can observe bright solar system objects such as Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars ) Nearby moons and rings. Scientists will use Webb to explore the tantalizing question of whether we can see plumes of material ejected from moons such as Europa and Saturn's moons and Enceladus . Webb may be able to see the signatures of plume , which deposits material on Europa's surface. "I think this is just one of the coolest things we can do with this telescope in the solar system," Milam said.
Jupiter is a bright white circle with a dark brown background. The moon is seen as a small white speck. Europa, to Jupiter's 8 o'clock position, is a small black spot surrounded by bright white, with six white diffraction spikes.
Jupiter and some of its moons are visible through NIRCam's 3.23 micron filter. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
In addition, Webb easily captured some of Jupiter's rings, which are particularly prominent in the NIRcam long-wavelength filter image.Milam said it was "absolutely surprising and stunning" that these rings appeared in Webb's first image of the solar system.
"The images of Jupiter in narrowband filters are intended to provide nice images of the entire planetary disk, but there is a lot of additional information about very faint objects (Métis, Thebes, main rings, hazes) in these images of about a minute The exposure was definitely a very pleasant surprise," said John Stansbury, observatory's scientist and NIRCam commissioning lead at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The background of the
space is black. Jupiter is on the right, with brown and white stripes. On the left, Europa is a very small dark circle surrounded by a bright spot with six diffraction spikes.
Jupiter and its moon Europa are seen in this animation made from three images taken through the NIRCam instrument's 2.12 micron filter. Click on the image to play the gif again. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
Webb also obtained these images of Jupiter and Europa moving across the telescope's field of view in three separate observations. The test demonstrated the observatory's ability to find and track guide stars near bright Jupiter.
A royal blue dot surrounded by neon yellow, with eight yellow spikes in red. It moves on a royal blue background from the top third of the image to the top of the image.
In this series of images taken by NIRCam, asteroid 6481 Tenzing (center) is seen moving against a background of stars. Click on the image to play the gif again. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
But how fast can an object move and still be tracked by Webb? This is an important question for scientists who study asteroids and comet . During the commissioning, Webb launched a moving target tracking "speed limit" test using an asteroid named 6481 Tenzing, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Weber's design calls for tracking an object moving as fast as Mars, with a maximum speed of 30 milliseconds per second. During the commissioning, the Webb team observed various asteroids. Because they were all small, they all appeared as a point. The team demonstrated that Webb could still obtain valuable data from all scientific instruments for moving objects at 67 milliseconds per second, which was more than twice the expected baseline—similar to photographing a turtle crawling a mile away. "Everything went great," Milam said.
- Elizabeth Landau, NASA Headquarters
