NASA scientists were surprised to discover a high-speed jet stream near Jupiter's equator.
Previous telescopes couldn't see Jupiter's atmosphere in such detail so they missed the fierce winds.
AdvertisementAdvertisementNASA's James Webb Space Telescope has helped scientists discover that Jupiter has a thin jetstream whipping around the planet at 320 miles per hour — twice as fast as Earth's strongest hurricanes.
The JWST's predecessor, Hubble, was not strong enough to clearly capture images of the hazier parts of Jupiter's atmosphere, NASA said in a press release detailing its findings.
The JWST was only able to detect the jet stream when it looked at a particular band of infrared light, which revealed changes in atmospheric features at varying altitudes.
Persons:
—, James Webb, Ricardo Hueso
Organizations:
NASA, Service, Telescope, Hubble