Space Savy

Jupiter’s fly like a jet stream high above the whole scene ♪

Webb has discovered a 3000-mi (4800-km) wide jet stream over Jupiter’s equator, above the main cloud decks. This newly discovered Jovian jet stream travels at 320 miles per hour, 2 times the winds of a Category 5 hurricane on Earth! It’s located around 25 miles (40 kilometers) in altitude, in Jupiter’s lower stratosphere. Other missions have looked at Jupiter’s atmosphere and detected the lower, deeper layers, where there are gigantic storms and ammonia ice clouds. Webb’s sensitive near-infrared eye reveals new detail in the higher-altitude layers, 15-30 mi (25-50 km) above the cloud tops.

Combining recent observations from Webb and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope allows scientists to measure how fast Jupiter’s winds change with altitude. The two telescopes’ different wavelengths also revealed the 3D structure of storm clouds on Jupiter, plus how rapidly storms develop.

Jupiter has a complex, repeating pattern of winds and temperatures in its stratosphere. Scientists are excited to see how this jet stream will vary in speed and altitude over the next few years, and if it may be connected to Jupiter’s oscillating stratospheric patterns. More on Webb's unique ability to track interactions in Jupiter's layered atmosphere: https://go.nasa.gov/45zMSGB

Boomerang Nebula 🪃

Though this view almost resembles an hourglass or bow tie, it was given this nickname back in 1980 by astronomers using ground-based telescopes.

Hubble's clear vision revealed more details about its shape, which was created by a ferocious wind blowing ultracold gas away from its dying central star, at a staggering speed of about 311,000 miles per hour (500,000 km/hr).

This nebula is located about 5,000 light-years away. Find out more: https://go.nasa.gov/46GhJSX

Image credit: R. Sahai and J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and the WFPC2 Science Team

Imagine a planet with clouds made of crystal ☁️

That’s exoplanet WASP-17 b! Thanks to the Webb Telescope, scientists have seen evidence of quartz (silicon dioxide, also called silica) nanocrystal clouds in an exoplanet atmosphere for the first time.

With a volume more than 7 times that of Jupiter yet a mass less than one-half Jupiter, WASP-17 b is one of the largest and puffiest known exoplanets. It features temperatures of 2700 degrees F (about 1500 degrees C) and atmospheric pressure only one-thousandth of Earth’s surface pressure, allowing solid quartz crystals to form directly from gas.

Just how small are the quartz crystals? 10 nanometers across, or one-millionth of a centimeter. While Webb’s mid-infrared instrument detected the silica particles, data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope played a key role in helping scientists figure out the quartz crystals’ size.

This result is a new step toward understanding exoplanet cloud formation and evolution. We’ve previously only seen magnesium silicates in other planets’ atmospheres, not pure silicon dioxide. WASP-17 b’s tiny quartz particles could be the “seeds” needed to form those larger silicates. Learn more: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZZwNsG

Graphics: NASA, ESA, CSA, and Ralf Crawford (STScI). Science: David Grant (University of Bristol), Hannah R. Wakeford (University of Bristol), Nikole Lewis (Cornell University)