                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2026 January 18
    The featured image shows Jupiter in infrared light as captured by the
      James Webb Space Telescope. Visible in unusually dark colors are
    Jupiter's clouds including the Great Red Spot, a ring, several moons,
       and bright aurora. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                    Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope
     Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; Processing: Ricardo
                       Hueso (UPV/EHU) & Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: This infrared view of Jupiter by Webb is illuminating.
   High-resolution infrared images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space
   Telescope (Webb) reveal, for example, differences between high-floating
   bright clouds -- including the Great Red Spot -- and low-lying dark
   clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image are Jupiter's
   dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's moons Amalthea
   and Adrastea. The footprint of large volcanic moon Io's magnetic
   funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the
   southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably
   diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the
   Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over six meters across making it the
   largest astronomical telescope ever launched -- with over six times
   more light-collecting area than Hubble.

                   Tomorrow's picture: interstellar garlic
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

