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Close-up Observations of Auroras on Jupiter

Three panels, each showing a close-up near-infrared image of Jupiter’s north pole, in shades of orange.

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.

About the Data

Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
NIRCam
Exposure Dates
Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
25 December 2023
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
F335M

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Jupiter
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Gas giant aurora
Release Date
May 12, 2025
Science Release
NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
Read the release
Credit
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jonathan Nichols (University of Leicester), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)

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Related Images & Videos

A two panel image. At left, a portion of Jupiter's pole in shades of orange. At right, the entire planet is multi-colored. At the top, a region is enclosed in a white box and shows the same orange image as in the left panel.

Pullout of Aurora Observations on Jupiter (NIRCam Image)

At left: Observations of Jupiter's auroras at 3.36 microns, showing emission from trihydrogen cation. At right: A image of the planet Jupiter, released in 2023, to indicate the location of the observed auroras.

A two panel image. On the right is the planet Jupiter as seen in near-infrared light. Its clouds are dark blue and white in color, with some red spots within the clouds, while its poles are tinged with green, yellow and red. A box over the north pole is overlain with more data in shades of orange, displaying auroras as arcs and rings on the planet. To left, this area is shown larger in size and captioned “09:53:57 25 Dec. 2023”.

Pullout of Aurora Observations on Jupiter