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Explore Webb Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Deployment Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 5 Min Read NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our solar system’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth. Full image below. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, Jonathan Nichols (University of Leicester), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our solar system’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth. With Webb’s advanced sensitivity, astronomers have studied the phenomena to better understand Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
Auroras are created when high-energy particles enter a planet’s atmosphere near its magnetic poles and collide with atoms or molecules of gas. On Earth these are known as the Northern and Southern Lights. Not only are the auroras on Jupiter huge in size, they are also hundreds of times more energetic than those in Earth’s atmosphere. Earth’s auroras are caused by solar storms — when charged particles from the Sun rain down on the upper atmosphere, energize gases, and cause them to glow in shades of red, green and purple.
Image A: Close-up Observations of Auroras on Jupiter
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our solar system’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth.
These observations of Jupiter’s auroras, taken at a wavelength of 3.36 microns (F335M) were captured with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on Dec. 25, 2023. Scientists found that the emission from trihydrogen cation, known as H3+, is far more variable than previously believed. H3+ is created by the impact of high energy electrons on molecular hydrogen. Because this emission shines brightly in the infrared, Webb’s instruments are well equipped to observe it. NASA, ESA, CSA, Jonathan Nichols (University of Leicester), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb) Jupiter has an additional source for its auroras: The strong magnetic field of the gas giant grabs charged particles from its surroundings. This includes not only the charged particles within the solar wind but also the particles thrown into space by its orbiting moon Io, known for its numerous and large volcanoes. Io’s volcanoes spew particles that escape the moon’s gravity and orbit Jupiter. A barrage of charged particles unleashed by the Sun also reaches the planet. Jupiter’s large and powerful magnetic field captures all of the charged particles and accelerates them to tremendous speeds. These speedy particles slam into the planet’s atmosphere at high energies, which excites the gas and causes it to glow.
Image B: Pullout of Aurora Observations on Jupiter (NIRCam Image)
These observations of Jupiter’s auroras (shown on the left of the above image) at 3.35 microns (F335M) were captured with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on Dec. 25, 2023. Scientists found that the emission from trihydrogen cation, known as H3+, is far more variable than previously believed. H3+ is created by the impact of high energy electrons on molecular hydrogen. Because this emission shines brightly in the infrared, Webb’s instruments are well equipped to observe it. The image on the right shows the planet Jupiter to indicate the location of the observed auroras, which was originally published in 2023. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ricardo Hueso (UPV), Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley), Thierry Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Jonathan Nichols (University of Leicester), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb) Now, Webb’s unique capabilities are providing new insights into the auroras on Jupiter. The telescope’s sensitivity allows astronomers to capture fast-varying auroral features. New data was captured with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) Dec. 25, 2023, by a team of scientists led by Jonathan Nichols from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.
“What a Christmas present it was – it just blew me away!” shared Nichols. “We wanted to see how quickly the auroras change, expecting them to fade in and out ponderously, perhaps over a quarter of an hour or so. Instead, we observed the whole auroral region fizzing and popping with light, sometimes varying by the second.”
In particular, the team studied emission from the trihydrogen cation (H3+), which can be created in auroras. They found that this emission is far more variable than previously believed. The observations will help develop scientists’ understanding of how Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is heated and cooled.
The team also uncovered some unexplained observations in their data.
“What made these observations even more special is that we also took pictures simultaneously in the ultraviolet with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,” added Nichols. “Bizarrely, the brightest light observed by Webb had no real counterpart in Hubble’s pictures. This has left us scratching our heads. In order to cause the combination of brightness seen by both Webb and Hubble, we need to have a combination of high quantities of very low-energy particles hitting the atmosphere, which was previously thought to be impossible. We still don’t understand how this happens.”
Video: Webb Captures Jupiter’s Aurora
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a spectacular light show on Jupiter — an enormous display of auroras unlike anything seen on Earth. These infrared observations reveal unexpected activity in Jupiter’s atmosphere, challenging what scientists thought they knew about the planet’s magnetic field and particle interactions. Combined with ultraviolet data from Hubble, the results have raised surprising new questions about Jupiter’s extreme environment.
Producer: Paul Morris. Writer: Thaddeus Cesari. Narrator: Professor Jonathan Nichols. Images: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Music Credit: “Zero Gravity” by Brice Davoli [SACEM] via Koka Media [SACEM], Universal Production Music France [SACEM], and Universal Production Music. The team now plans to study this discrepancy between the Hubble and Webb data and to explore the wider implications for Jupiter’s atmosphere and space environment. They also intend to follow up this research with more Webb observations, which they can compare with data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft to better explore the cause of the enigmatic bright emission.
These results were published today in the journal Nature Communications.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
To learn more about Webb, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/webb
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Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
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ESA/Webb, Baltimore, Md.
Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our Solar System’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth. With Webb’s advanced sensitivity, astronomers have studied the phenomena to better understand Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
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Editor’s Note: The following is one of three related articles about the NASA Data Acquisition System and related efforts. Please visit Stennis News – NASA to access accompanying articles.
NASA software engineer Brandon Carver updates how the main data acquisition software processes information at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he has contributed to the creation of the center’s first-ever open-source software.NASA/Danny Nowlin Syncom Space Services software engineer Shane Cravens, the chief architect behind the first-ever open-source software at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, verifies operation of the site’s data acquisition hardware.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has released its first-ever open-source software, a peer review tool to facilitate more efficient and collaborative creation of systems applications, such as those used in its frontline government and commercial propulsion test work.
“Everyone knows NASA Stennis as the nation’s premier rocket propulsion test site,” said David Carver, acting chief of the Office of Test Data and Information Management. “We also are engaged in a range of key technology efforts. This latest open-source tool is an exciting example of that work, and one we anticipate will have a positive and widespread impact.”
The new NASA Data Acquisition System Peer Review Tool was developed over several years, built on lessons learned as site developers and engineers created software tools for use across the center’s sprawling test complex. It is designed to simplify and amplify the collaborative review process, allowing developers to build better and more effective software applications.
The new NASA Stennis Peer Review tool was developed using the same software processes that built NDAS. As center engineers and developers created software to monitor and analyze data from rocket propulsion tests, they collaborated with peers to optimize system efficiency. What began as an internal review process ultimately evolved into the open-source code now available to the public.
“We refined it (the peer review tool) over a period of time, and it has improved our process significantly,” said Brandon Carver (no relation), a NASA Stennis software engineer. “In early efforts, we were doing reviews manually, now our tool handles some of these steps for us. It has allowed us to focus more on reviewing key items in our software.”
Developers can improve time, efficiency, and address issues earlier when conducting software code reviews. The result is a better, more productive product.
The NASA Stennis tool is part of the larger NASA Data Acquisition System created at the center to help monitor and collect propulsion test data. It is designed to work with National Instruments LabVIEW, which is widely used by systems engineers and scientists to design applications. LabVIEW is unique in using graphics (visible icon objects) instead of a text-based programming language to create applications. The graphical approach makes it more challenging to compare codes in a review process.
“You cannot compare your code in the same way you do with a text-based language,” Brandon Carver said. “Our tool offers a process that allows developers to review these LabVIEW-developed programs and to focus more time on reviewing actual code updates.”
LabVIEW features a comparison tool, but NASA Stennis engineers identified ways they could improve the process, including by automating certain steps. The NASA Stennis tool makes it easier to post comments, pictures, and other elements in an online peer review to make discussions more effective.
The result is what NASA Stennis developers hope is a more streamlined, efficient process. “It really optimizes your time and provides everything you need to focus on right in front of you,” Brandon Carver said. “That’s why we wanted to open source this because when we were building the tool, we did not see anything like it, or we did not see anything that had features that we have.”
“By providing it to the open-source community, they can take our tool, find better ways of handling things, and refine it,” Brandon Carver said. “We want to allow those groups to modify it and become a community around the tool, so it is continuously improved. Ultimately, a peer review is to make stronger software or a stronger product and that is also true for this peer review tool.
“It is a good feeling to be part of the process and to see something created at the center now out in the larger world across the agency,” Brandon Carver said. “It is pretty exciting to be able to say that you can go get this software we have written and used,” he acknowledged. “NASA engineers have done this. I hope we continue to do it.”
To access the peer review tool developed at NASA Stennis, visit NASA GitHub.
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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Explore This Section Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Deployment Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 5 Min Read New Visualization From NASA’s Webb Telescope Explores Cosmic Cliffs
The landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” known as the Cosmic Cliffs is actually a portion of the nebula Gum 31, which contains a young star cluster called NGC 3324. Both Gum 31 and NGC 3324 are part of a vast star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula Complex. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made its public debut with a series of breathtaking images. Among them was an ethereal landscape nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs. This glittering realm of star birth is the subject of a new 3D visualization derived from the Webb data. The visualization, created by NASA’s Universe of Learning and titled “Exploring the Cosmic Cliffs in 3D,” breathes new life into an iconic Webb image.
It is being presented today at a special event hosted by the International Planetarium Society to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first public planetarium in Munich, Germany.
The landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” known as the Cosmic Cliffs is actually a portion of the nebula Gum 31, which contains a young star cluster called NGC 3324. Both Gum 31 and NGC 3324 are part of a vast star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula Complex.
Ultraviolet light and stellar winds from the stars of NGC 3324 have carved a cavernous area within Gum 31. A portion of this giant bubble is seen above the Cosmic Cliffs. (The star cluster itself is outside this field of view.)
The Cliffs display a misty appearance, with “steam” that seems to rise from the celestial mountains. In actuality, the wisps are hot, ionized gas and dust streaming away from the nebula under an onslaught of relentless ultraviolet radiation.
Eagle-eyed viewers may also spot particularly bright, yellow streaks and arcs that represent outflows from young, still-forming stars embedded within the Cosmic Cliffs. The latter part of the visualization sequence swoops past a prominent protostellar jet in the upper right of the image.
Video: Exploring the Cosmic Cliffs in 3D
In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made history, revealing a breathtaking view of a region now nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs. This glittering landscape, captured in incredible detail, is part of the nebula Gum 31 — a small piece of the vast Carina Nebula Complex — where stars are born amid clouds of gas and dust.
This visualization brings Webb’s iconic image to life — helping us imagine the true, three-dimensional structure of the universe… and our place within it.
Produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) with partners at Caltech/IPAC, and developed by the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning, this visualization is part of a longer, narrated video that provides broad audiences, including youth, families, and lifelong learners, with a direct connection to the science and scientists of NASA’s Astrophysics missions. That video enables viewers to explore fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done, and discover the universe for themselves.
“Bringing this amazing Webb image to life helps the public to comprehend the three-dimensional structure inherent in the 2D image, and to develop a better mental model of the universe,” said STScI’s Frank Summers, principal visualization scientist and leader of the AstroViz Project.
More visualizations and connections between the science of nebulas and learners can be explored through other products produced by NASA’s Universe of Learning including a Carina Nebula Complex resource page and ViewSpace, a video exhibit that is currently running at almost 200 museums and planetariums across the United States. Visitors can go beyond video to explore the images produced by space telescopes with interactive tools now available for museums and planetariums.
NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
NASA’s Universe of Learning is part of the NASA Science Activation program, from the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The Science Activation program connects NASA science experts, real content and experiences, and community leaders in a way that activates minds and promotes deeper understanding of our world and beyond. Using its direct connection to the science and the experts behind the science, NASA’s Universe of Learning provides resources and experiences that enable youth, families, and lifelong learners to explore fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done, and discover the universe for themselves.
To learn more about Webb, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/webb
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Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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Explore more: Carina Nebula Complex from NASA’s Universe of Learning
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Explore This Section Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Deployment Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 6 Min Read NASA’s Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet
This artist’s concept shows what the hot sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b could look like. It is based on spectroscopic data gathered by Webb, as well as previous observations from other telescopes on the ground and in space. Credits:
Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI) Though they don’t orbit around our Sun, sub-Neptunes are the most common type of exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system, that have been observed in our galaxy. These small, gassy planets are shrouded in mystery…and often, a lot of haze. Now, by observing exoplanet TOI-421 b, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is helping scientists understand sub-Neptunes in a way that was not possible prior to the telescope’s launch.
“I had been waiting my entire career for Webb so that we could meaningfully characterize the atmospheres of these smaller planets,” said principal investigator Eliza Kempton of the University of Maryland, College Park. “By studying their atmospheres, we’re getting a better understanding of how sub-Neptunes formed and evolved, and part of that is understanding why they don’t exist in our solar system.”
Image A: Artist’s Concept of TOI-421 b
This artist’s concept shows what the hot sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b could look like. It is based on spectroscopic data gathered by Webb, as well as previous observations from other telescopes on the ground and in space. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI) Small, Cool, Shrouded in Haze
The existence of sub-Neptunes was unexpected before they were discovered by NASA’s retired Kepler space telescope in the last decade. Now, astronomers are trying to understand where these planets came from and why are they so common.
Before Webb, scientists had very little information on them. While sub-Neptunes are a few times larger than Earth, they are still much smaller than gas-giant planets and typically cooler than hot Jupiters, making them much more challenging to observe than their gas-giant counterparts.
A key finding prior to Webb was that most sub-Neptune atmospheres had flat or featureless transmission spectra. This means that when scientists observed the spectrum of the planet as it passed in front of its host star, instead of seeing spectral features – the chemical fingerprints that would reveal the composition of the atmosphere – they saw only a flat-line spectrum. Astronomers concluded from all of those flat-line spectra that at least certain sub-Neptunes were probably very highly obscured by either clouds or hazes.
Image B: Spectrum of TOI-421 b
A transmission spectrum captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals chemicals in the atmosphere of the hot sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) A Different Kind of Sub-Neptune?
“Why did we observe this planet, TOI-421 b? It’s because we thought that maybe it wouldn’t have hazes,” said Kempton. “And the reason is that there were some previous data that implied that maybe planets over a certain temperature range were less enshrouded by haze or clouds than others.”
That temperature threshold is about 1,070 degrees Fahrenheit. Below that, scientists hypothesized that a complex set of photochemical reactions would occur between sunlight and methane gas, and that would trigger the haze. But hotter planets shouldn’t have methane and therefore perhaps shouldn’t have haze.
The temperature of TOI-421 b is about 1,340 degrees Fahrenheit, well above the presumed threshold. Without haze or clouds, researchers expected to see a clear atmosphere – and they did!
A Surprising Finding
“We saw spectral features that we attribute to various gases, and that allowed us to determine the composition of the atmosphere,” said the University of Maryland’s Brian Davenport, a third-year Ph.D. student who conducted the primary data analysis. “Whereas with many of the other sub-Neptunes that had been previously observed, we know their atmospheres are made of something, but they’re being blocked by haze.”
The team found water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere, as well as tentative signatures of carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. Then there are molecules they didn’t detect, such as methane and carbon dioxide. From the data, they can also infer that a large amount of hydrogen is in TOI-421 b’s atmosphere.
The lightweight hydrogen atmosphere was the big surprise to the researchers. “We had recently wrapped our mind around the idea that those first few sub-Neptunes observed by Webb had heavy-molecule atmospheres, so that had become our expectation, and then we found the opposite,” said Kempton. This suggests TOI-421 b may have formed and evolved differently from the cooler sub-Neptunes observed previously.
Is TOI-421 b Unique?
The hydrogen-dominated atmosphere is also interesting because it mimics the composition of TOI-421 b’s host star. “If you just took the same gas that made the host star, plopped it on top of a planet’s atmosphere, and put it at the much cooler temperature of this planet, you would get the same combination of gases. That process is more in line with the giant planets in our solar system, and it is different from other sub-Neptunes that have been observed with Webb so far,” said Kempton.
Aside from being hotter than other sub-Neptunes previously observed with Webb, TOI-421 b orbits a Sun-like star. Most of the other sub-Neptunes that have been observed so far orbit smaller, cooler stars called red dwarfs.
Is TOI-421b emblematic of hot sub-Neptunes orbiting Sun-like stars, or is it just that exoplanets are very diverse? To find out, the researchers would like to observe more hot sub-Neptunes to determine if this is a unique case or a broader trend. They hope to gain insights into the formation and evolution of these common exoplanets.
“We’ve unlocked a new way to look at these sub-Neptunes,” said Davenport. “These high-temperature planets are amenable to characterization. So by looking at sub-Neptunes of this temperature, we’re perhaps more likely to accelerate our ability to learn about these planets.”
The team’s findings appear on May 5 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
To learn more about Webb, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/webb
Downloads
Click any image to open a larger version.
View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Media Contacts
Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Ann Jenkins – jenkins@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Hannah Braun – hbraun@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Related Information
Webb Blog: Reconnaissance of Potentially Habitable Worlds with NASA’s Webb
Video: How to Study Exoplanets
Article: Webb’s Impact on Exoplanet Research
Video: How do we learn about a planet’s Atmosphere?
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Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
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