The first images of Mars have been captured by the james wbb telescope.
The Hellas Basin is thought to have formed around four billion years ago when an object of gargantuan proportions smashed into Mars. At 4,400 miles across, it can be seen as a massive dark-orange spot in theIR spectrum, amidst the bright yellow of Mars' subsolar point.
Even NASA scientists were surprised by the Hellas Basin's darkness, since the sun beams directly down on it.
"We weren't expecting that," said Giuliano Liuzzi at a press conference. We saw something bright, but it got darker.
According to Geronimo, the explanation lies in the planet's atmosphere.
The Hellas Basin experiences higher air pressure because it's a lower altitude. The suppression of the thermal emission is caused by an effect called pressure broadening. There are competing effects in the data.
It would be easy to point the telescope at a planet in our own solar system.
It is more difficult than it seems. Something as close as Mars is bright and overwhelming to its sensors because of the power of the James Webb.
NASA used short exposures so that the images didn't appear blown out, and used special techniques to analyze the data.
We can't wait to see what happens next.
Harvard and MIT scientists don't agree with the idea that james wbb data may not be what it seems.
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