Jupiter's Mysterious High-Speed Jet Stream Unveiled By Webb Space Telescope

A wide high-speed jet stream, measuring over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) in breadth, is positioned above Jupiter's equator.

The James Webb Space Telescope from NASA has unveiled a high-velocity jet stream within Jupiter's atmosphere. This recently disclosed fast-moving jet stream spans a remarkable 4,800 kilometers in width and is located above Jupiter's equator, positioned well beyond its primary cloud layers. The planet's high-speed jet stream was clocked at approximately 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour). This is an unprecedented discovery, never observed before.

According to the official website of the James Webb Space Telescope, the discovery of this jet is giving insights into how the layers of Jupiter's famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features.

"This is something that totally surprised us," said Ricardo Hueso of the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, the lead author of the paper describing the findings. "What we have always seen as blurred hazes in Jupiter's atmosphere now appear as crisp features that we can track along with the planet's fast rotation."