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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.

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.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

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 .

Date January 18, 2026
Credit Image Credit: NASA , ESA , CSA , Jupiter ERS Team ; Processing: Ricardo Hueso ( UPV/EHU ) & Judy Schmidt
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.