Imke de Pater

Two new studies associated with the James Webb Space Telescope’s Early Release Science program have been published, and both have to do with Jupiter’s moons, namely Ganymede and Io.Webb Telescope Images the Pillars of CreationThe first study, led by astronomer Samantha Trumbo from Cornell University and published in Science Advances, presents a fascinating first—the unprecedented detection of hydrogen peroxide on Ganymede. The second study, published in JGR: Planets, reveals another neat finding—sulfurous fumes,…

Left: Pioneer 10's view of Jupiter in March 1973. Right: Webb Telescope’s view of Jupiter in July 2022. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy SchmidtFor centuries, astronomers were limited to ground-based observations of the planets, but now we use spacecraft to capture close-up views of our neighboring worlds. Excitingly, our views of solar system planets have been getting progressively better over the decades, as these images attest.The dawn of the Space Age finally made it possible for…

Jupiter’s faint rings and two of its moons can be seen against a backdrop of distant galaxies.Image: NASA, ESA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) and Judy SchmidtThe Webb Space Telescope is capturing Jupiter as it’s never been seen before. The gas giant is glowing in the latest batch of Webb images, which show bright auroras at its north and south poles, huge storms that have been raging for centuries, extremely faint rings, and two of the planet’s 79 known moons. Idris Elba on the Power of…