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Shadowy Planet

This is quite obviously an image of Jupiter, the large spot to the lower right of the planet is ummistakable. But it is also not the normal view of the planet. The colours are different for a start – and the spot isn’t red (really a rust colour.) Notable, too, are the bright polar aurorae.

Also visible is Jupiter’s ring system with the satellite Adrastea at their leftmost edge and Amalthea further out.

From Astronomy Picture of the Day for 18/1/26 this is Jupiter in infra-red light as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Ringed Planet and Moon

Does this somewhat eerie image, from Astronomy Picture of the Day for 19/8/23, depict Saturn and one of its moons? Or is it even from another solar system?

No. It is in fact the planet Neptune captured by the James Webb Telescope in infra-red light. Its largest moon, Triton, brighter than its primary in reflected sunlight, is at the top left showing the James Webb Telescope’s typical diffraction spikes.

The Ring Around Jupiter

It’s not often you see an image of Jupiter’s ring.

This picture (from Astronomy Picture of the Day for 20/7/22) though shows both planet and ring in infra-red light as captured by the James Webb Telescope.

Also prominent is the Great Red Spot as a bright white feature in infra-red and the moon Europa at the centre of a large diffraction spike.

Jupiter and ring in infra-red</center<

The Sombrero as a Ring

From Astronomy Picture of the Day for 1/1/2019. The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104) in infra-red:-

Sombrero Galaxy in infra-red

That central portion is much less transparent in visible light – photo from Wikipedia:-
Sombrero Galaxy

Fly Through Orion

Courtesy of The Daily Galaxy (and the Hubble Telescope) plus some technological trickery here is a visual fly-through of the Orion Nebula in visible and infra-red light.

Beautiful Celestial Jewel

Check out this gem from Astronomy Picture of the Day, 12/10/17. It’s a picture of barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 apparently in visible light (as opposed to infra-red or UV or radio images.) I haven’t reproduced it here as it’s not the usual copyright.

But it’s a lovely scene just the same.

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