# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DJjYPnntBmg
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/30444174-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/f408c89ff4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-12T12:02:30.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

More passion, more energy 🕺
 
The amazing dancing lights we can see close to the North and South Poles of Earth happen on other planets, too, and NASAWebb captured new details of auroras on the biggest planet in our solar system. Observations show that auroras on Jupiter are huge in size and are also hundreds of times more energetic than auroras on Earth.
 
On Earth, auroras are caused by solar storms. When charged particles rain down on the upper atmosphere, it excites gases and causes them to glow colors of red, green, and purple. On Jupiter, there's an additional source of auroras — the magnetic field of the gas giant grabs charged particles from its surroundings, including its tumultuous volcanic moon, Io.

Io’s estimated 400 volcanoes spew particles that escape the moon’s gravity and orbit Jupiter. During a solar storm, a barrage of charged particles is unleashed onto the planet. Jupiter’s large and powerful magnetic field captures charged particles and accelerates them to tremendous speeds. These speedy particles slam into the planet’s atmosphere at high energies, which excites the gas and causes it to glow.
 
Now, Webb’s unique capabilities are providing new insights into the auroras on Jupiter. The telescope’s sensitivity allows astronomers to increase the shutter speed to capture the quick changes of auroral features.
 
Visual descriptions:

1. 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 overlaid with more data in shades of orange, displaying auroras as arcs and rings.
 
2. The inset area is shown in larger detail. This video is a close-up near-infrared look at Jupiter’s North Pole, in shades of orange. Swirling auroras cover the pole.
 
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
 
#NASA #Space #JWST #NASAWebb #Telescope #Jupiter #SolarSystem #Aurora

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## Tags

nasawebb, nasa, space, aurora, solarsystem, telescope, jwst, jupiter

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