Following the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA has been feeding the public astral photos with higher definitions than ever before. Now NASA’s successor to the Hubble Telescope has snapped a dazzling shot of our solar system’s favorite gas giant — Jupiter.
With more than 640,000 likes on Instagram, our system’s largest planet is taking the internet by storm. Vibrant and vivid, it’s an incredible shot — taken of a heavenly body about 484 million miles away.
NASA previously hinted that it would be releasing detailed photos of the planet via the James Web Space Telescope, and the organization delivered on its promise over Instagram on Monday.
In the first of the two photos, a spectrum of vibrant colors can be seen enveloped around the gas giant for the first time. Meanwhile, the planet’s surface sports a spectrum of blues and purples — with the planet’s iconic Great Red Spot in full view.
In the second photo, the planet’s rings can be seen, along with a wider view of Jupiter’s bright blue outline.
“In the first image, Jupiter dominates the black background of space,” NASA said in its Instagram post. “The image is a composite, and shows Jupiter in enhanced color. The planet’s Great Red Spot appears white here. The planet is striated with swirling horizontal stripes of neon turquoise, periwinkle, light pink, and cream. The stripes interact and mix at their edges like cream in coffee. Along both of the poles, the planet glows in turquoise. Bright orange auroras glow just above the planet’s surface at both poles.”
