On September 5, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured its first images and spectra of Mars. The powerful telescope provides a unique perspective with its infrared sensitivity on our neighboring planet, complementing data being collected by orbiters, rovers, and other telescopes. Webb is an inte
Webb’s first images of Mars, captured by its NIRCam instrument on September 5, 2022 [Guaranteed Time Observation Program 1415]. Left: Reference map of the observed hemisphere of Mars from NASA and the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter . Top right: NIRCam image showing 2.1-micron reflected sunlight, revealing surface features such as craters and dust layers. Bottom right: Simultaneous NIRCam image showing ~4.
Webb orbits the Sun near the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point , which lies approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth on the far side of Earth from the Sun. Webb is not located precisely at L2, but moves in a halo orbit around L2 as it orbits the Sun. In this orbit, Webb can maintain a safe distance from the bright light of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, while also maintaining its position relative to Earth.
“This is actually not a thermal effect at Hellas,” explained the principal investigator, Geronimo Villanueva of, who designed these Webb observations. “The Hellas Basin is a lower altitude, and thus experiences higher air pressure. That higher pressure leads to a suppression of the thermal emission at this particular wavelength range [4.1-4.4 microns] due to an effect called pressure broadening. It will be very interesting to tease apart these competing effects in these data.
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