Space is weird. Seriously. We think we know Jupiter—that big, tan marble with the red eye—but the new photos of Jupiter coming back from NASA’s Juno spacecraft and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are making the planet look like a psychedelic oil painting. It’s not just for the aesthetics, though. The data we're seeing in early 2026 is fundamentally breaking our old models of how gas giants actually work.
If you haven't looked at a picture of Jupiter in the last year, you're missing out. The planet isn't just stripes and a spot anymore. It's a chaotic mess of "folded filamentary regions" and polar cyclones that look like a tray of cinnamon rolls gone wrong.
What’s Actually Happening in These New Photos of Jupiter?
Most people think NASA just has a giant Nikon pointed at the stars. Kinda, but not really. The new photos of Jupiter you’re seeing are mostly "processed." This doesn't mean they're fake. It means human eyes can't see the stuff that’s actually interesting. Juno, which has been orbiting the planet since 2016, takes raw data that looks like a gray smudge. Citizen scientists—regular people like Jackie Branc and Gerald Eichstädt—take that data and stretch the colors so we can see the movement of the clouds.
In the latest batches from the Perijove 66 and Perijove 72 flybys, the detail is staggering. We’re seeing "pop-up clouds"—tiny, bright white dots that sit high above the main atmosphere. They cast shadows. Let that sink in for a second. We are seeing the shadow of a cloud on a planet 400 million miles away.
The Great Red Spot is Changing (Again)
Everyone asks about the Great Red Spot. Honestly, it’s looking a bit tired. It’s shrinking, which we’ve known for a while, but the James Webb Space Telescope recently found something weird above it. While the storm itself is this deep, swirling crimson at the lower levels, the upper atmosphere above it is surprisingly structured. JWST’s infrared cameras picked up intricate ripples and waves that weren't supposed to be there.
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It turns out the Great Red Spot is literally shaking the upper atmosphere of the planet.
Why the Colors Look So "Trippy"
You’ve probably seen the photos where Jupiter looks neon blue or glowing orange. That’s usually the JWST at work. It looks at infrared light.
- Red/Orange: This shows the auroras. Jupiter’s northern and southern lights are absolute monsters.
- Yellow/Green: This highlights the haze and the molecular hydrogen.
- Blue: This usually represents the deeper cloud layers.
When you see a blue Jupiter, you aren't seeing what you'd see if you were standing on a spaceship deck. You’re seeing heat and chemistry. The new photos of Jupiter from Webb even show its rings. Most people don't even know Jupiter has rings because they’re so faint, but in the new high-contrast infrared shots, they glow like a halo.
The Juno Mission’s Final Act
Juno is basically on its last legs. The radiation around Jupiter is brutal. Imagine a trillion X-rays hitting your electronics every second. That’s what Juno lives through. NASA has been extending its mission, and as of early 2026, it’s still hanging on, but the camera—the JunoCam—is starting to show "noise" because of the radiation damage.
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Basically, the camera is getting "blind spots," but the scientists are using this to their advantage. They’re getting closer to the moons than ever before. We’ve had incredible new shots of Amalthea, which is a tiny, potato-shaped moon that most people haven't even heard of. It looks like a jagged piece of space debris, but it's a whole world orbiting inside the radiation belts.
What Most People Get Wrong About These Images
There’s this common "conspiracy" or just a misunderstanding that NASA "fakes" these colors to make them look pretty for Instagram.
Here’s the truth: if you looked at Jupiter with your own eyes from a ship, it would look much more muted. It’s mostly beige, tan, and light brown. The new photos of Jupiter use "false color" or "enhanced contrast" because the chemicals in the atmosphere—ammonia, sulfur, and phosphorus—react differently to different light. By cranking the blue or the red, scientists can say, "Hey, that swirl is actually a different gas than the one next to it."
Without that processing, we wouldn't be able to track the 320 mph jet streams Webb just discovered over the equator.
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What Really Happened with the "Dilute" Core?
This is a bit nerdy, but it's the biggest discovery from the recent missions. We used to think Jupiter had a solid rock core. Sort of like a peach with a pit. The gravity data linked to these new photos suggests the core is actually "dilute." It’s fuzzy. Instead of a solid ball of rock, it’s a giant soup of heavy elements mixed with liquid metallic hydrogen.
The photos of the surface storms are essentially the "steam" rising off this giant, boiling planetary soup.
How to Follow the Newest Releases
If you want to see the new photos of Jupiter the second they hit Earth, you don't wait for the news. You go to the JunoCam website. NASA uploads the "raw" files there before they even process them. You can download the data and make your own art.
- Check the Perijove Schedule: Juno makes a close pass roughly every 30 to 50 days. These are called "Perijoves."
- Look for Citizen Scientist Uploads: Names like Kevin M. Gill or Brian Swift are the legends of this field. They take the raw "strips" of data and turn them into the gorgeous globes you see on your phone background.
- Watch the NASA Photojournal: This is where the official, verified, and captioned images live.
The next few months are critical. Juno is scheduled to eventually plunge into the atmosphere (to avoid crashing into and contaminating the moons like Europa), so these might be some of the last close-up views we get for a decade.
Actionable Insights for Space Enthusiasts
- Download the Raw Data: Go to the Mission Juno website and look at the "strips." It gives you a real appreciation for how much work goes into a single image.
- Use a Sky Map App: Since Jupiter reached opposition in early January 2026, it’s currently at its brightest in the night sky. You can see it with just your eyes—it’s the brightest "star" that doesn't twinkle.
- Follow the Webb Feed: The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) releases Cycle 5 observation schedules in March 2026. Keep an eye out for more Jupiter "System" shots that include the moons and rings.
The king of planets is more active than we ever imagined. These images aren't just wallpaper; they're the map of a world that’s basically a giant, ongoing explosion held together by gravity.