JWST: A New Voyager for the Outer Solar System

The first two years of JWST scientific operations have produced a treasure trove of new discoveries, from the earliest galaxies and stars, to the myriad environments closer to home. Spectacular infrared images of all four giant planets have provided new views of their vigorous weather systems, wispy hazes, and ionospheric emissions, and revealed the delicate structures in their dusty and icy rings.  But the key strength of JWST for Solar System studies are the integral field unit spectrometers, NIRSpec (0.6-5.3 µm) and MIRI (4.9-28.5 µm). These provide spatially-resolved infrared spectroscopy at high spectral resolution across their fields of view, enabling three-dimensional studies of temperatures, clouds, and composition within all four giant planet systems. Uranus and Neptune fit perfectly within JWST’s small fields-of-view, whereas complex mosaics are needed for Jupiter and Saturn. The JWST discoveries include maps of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and South Polar aurora; observations of Io, Ganymede and the Jovian rings; maps of Saturn’s northern summertime hemisphere; tracking of Titan’s seasonal storms; observations of Saturn’s crystalline rings; and global maps of Uranus and Neptune from the troposphere to the ionosphere.  The latter represent one of the most significant new datasets for Ice Giant science since the days of Voyager-2, and it is hoped that these rich observations will be the start of a long-term programme monitoring the evolving appearance of the giant planets over the lifetime of JWST.

This presentation by Prof. Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester) will showcase some of the key giant-planet results from JWST, and how they connect to previous (Voyager, Cassini), current (Juno, Hubble), and future (JUICE, Clipper and Uranus Flagship) exploration.

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