James Webb Telescope “Finds Lights on Mars”
James Webb Telescope “Finds Lights on Mars”
🔦 James Webb Telescope “Finds Lights on Mars”?
1. The Claim
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Some viral headlines suggest JWST detected “lights” or artificial illumination on Mars.
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This plays into long-running conspiracy theories about secret Martian civilizations or NASA “hiding evidence.”
2. The Reality
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JWST is not aimed at Mars for surface mapping — it focuses on distant galaxies, exoplanets, and cosmic structures.
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Any “lights” reported are actually:
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Atmospheric glows (auroras caused by solar wind interacting with Mars’ thin atmosphere).
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Thermal emissions — heat signatures from dust storms, polar caps, or rocky surfaces radiating infrared.
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Reflected sunlight from ice and dust, which JWST’s infrared detectors pick up vividly.
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3. Why It Feels Mysterious
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Infrared images from JWST look alien to the untrained eye — glowing patterns across the planet.
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Without context, it’s easy to interpret them as artificial lights.
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NASA’s own data shows these emissions are natural phenomena, not city skylines.
