James Webb Space Telescope Makes Amazing Discovery on Jupiter That Baffles Scientists – Teach Me Science

The James Webb Space Telescope has become a major hub for exploring and researching the vast universe around us, allowing us to discover new worlds, galaxies, and other celestial bodies in the vast cosmos, as well as great mysteries on the planets that make up our solar system.

In this sense, a research team led by Henrik Melin from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom has made a surprising discovery on the planet Jupiter using the James Webb Space Telescope, which has left scientists baffled by its inexplicable nature, which was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.

These are complex structures in the form of bands, dark arcs and bright spots that stand out in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, just above the planet’s mysterious and iconic Red Spot, which was discovered and observed thanks to the technology and sensitivity offered by the near infrared spectrum of James Web.

These mysterious structures on Jupiter cannot be seen from the Earth’s surface with conventional telescopes, and have gone undetected in previous observations by other space telescopes and probes.

On the other hand, scientists have never focused on studying this area, as they believed that Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is monotonous, uniform and homogeneous, receiving only 4% of the sunlight and in which only the northern and southern auroras are active due to volcanic material ejected by one of Jupiter’s moons, Io.

However, this misconception was debunked when James Webb managed to capture a variety of complex structures, including stripes, dark arcs and bright spots, across the entire field of view, surprising and puzzling scientists.

«We thought, perhaps naively, that this region would be very boring. In fact, it is as interesting as the northern lights, if not more. Jupiter never ceases to amaze” – the European Space Agency (ESA) Melin said in a statement.

Likewise, Melin and his research team note that these complex structures are formed by changes in the density of molecular hydrogen (H3+), which are not only the result of the presence of sunlight in this atmospheric zone, but also other mechanisms such as gravity waves.

Experts explain that these gravity waves are generated around the Great Red Spot, in the lower atmosphere, and are capable of traveling at high altitudes, changing the structure and emissions of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. This strange phenomenon may indicate a possible interaction between Jupiter’s different atmospheric zones, previously undetected.

For now, the data will be used for future studies, such as the Juice mission, launched on April 14, 2023, which will explore Jupiter’s icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

Likewise, experts plan to conduct new observations with the James Webb Space Telescope to determine how these complex structures and gravitational waves move in Jupiter’s atmosphere and better understand the region.