Jupiter jet pullouts

Researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) have discovered a high-speed jet stream sitting over Jupiter’s equator, above the main cloud decks.

Researchers spotted several wind shears, or areas where wind speeds change with height or distance, which enabled them to track the jet. This image highlights several of the features around Jupiter’s equatorial zone that are very clearly disturbed by the motion of the jet stream during a rotation of the planet. The right white boxes contain images taken ten hours apart of Jupiter’s equatorial zone. The coloured cut-outs show the movement of several features caused by the jet.

The discovery of this jet is providing insight into how the layers of Jupiter’s famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other, and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features. Researchers are looking forward to additional observations of Jupiter with Webb to determine if the jet’s speed and altitude change over time.

[Image description: The infographic shows Webb’s image of Jupiter at the left. On the right side there are eight separate images. Two of these images are horizontal and span the entire right half of the infographic. They are zoomed-in pullouts from a section of Jupiter’s equator – outlined in a white box on the image of the planet on the left. Both of these images are white and grey with horizontal wispy clouds. There are six smaller boxes in between the two horizontal images. The first column of the boxes is outlined in orange, the second column purple and the third yellow. Each of the smaller images correspond to orange, purple, and yellow boxes placed along the horizontal images.]