NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken breathtaking new pictures of auroras at Jupiter’s north pole. These glowing lights are caused by charged particles crashing into Jupiter’s atmosphere—and they’re hundreds of times brighter than Earth’s Northern Lights.
How Jupiter’s Auroras Are Different From Earth’s
On Earth, auroras are created by solar storms—charged particles from the Sun hitting the upper atmosphere. But Jupiter’s auroras are more intense and complex. Not only do solar particles play a role, but Jupiter’s strong magnetic field also pulls in extra particles from nearby space.
Jupiter’s moon Io has active volcanoes that release particles into space. These particles get caught by Jupiter’s magnetic field and crash into the planet’s atmosphere, creating even more light. This makes Jupiter’s auroras more diverse and powerful than Earth’s.
The Webb telescope uses a Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which is more sensitive than the one on the older Hubble Space Telescope. Thanks to this camera, scientists spotted bright flashes and fast-changing patterns that were never seen before
Jonathan Nichols, a researcher from the University of Leicester, leads the team that studied these images. He shared his excitement with NASA, saying, “What a Christmas present it was — it just blew me away!” He was amazed at how fast the auroras changed, lighting up and fading every few seconds.
For the first time, scientists captured images of Jupiter’s auroras with both the Hubble and Webb telescopes at the same time. This allowed them to compare ultraviolet (Hubble) and infrared (Webb) views. The Webb telescope clearly showed finer details, proving how advanced it is.
These discoveries help scientists understand more about Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field and how it affects the planet’s atmosphere. They also hope to find clues about how Jupiter heats up and cools down. This is just the beginning of many exciting discoveries about the gas giant.
