James Webb Telescope

In recent weeks, the telescope has been taking images of Jupiter and Neptune.  In the image of Jupiter, you can clearly see the Great Red spot; a famous storm so big that it could swallow Earth.  It appears white in the image because it reflects a lot of sunlight. The image of Neptune shows the rings and dust bands that encircle the ice giant.  Also visible in the image taken of Neptune are seven of Neptune’s moons. Triton is the brightest, almost looking star-like. The latest image taken by the telescope shows a double star (binary) system WR 140, which is 5000 light years from Earth.  The image shows 17 rings which are dust shells that extend outwards over 10 trillion km (70,000 times the distance between the Earth and our Sun).  The dust shells are mainly made up of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).  These are very rich in carbon and you can find them on burnt toast and in car exhausts.  PAHs produced by stars are thought to enrich the carbon content throughout the Universe.

Mrs Goodwill

Science Department

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