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NASA has revealed a stunning new image of swirling ‘oil painting’ storms on Jupiter.
It shows storms in Jupiter’s dynamic North North Temperate Belt captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
‘Appearing in the scene are several bright-white ‘pop-up’ clouds as well as an anticyclonic storm, known as a white oval,’ NASA said.
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This color-enhanced image was taken at 1:58 p.m. PDT on Oct. 29, 2018 (4:58 p.m. EDT) as the spacecraft performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 4,400 miles (7,000 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, at a latitude of approximately 40 degrees north.
‘A multitude of magnificent, swirling clouds in Jupiter’s dynamic North North Temperate Belt are captured.’
It captures the intensity of the jets and vortices in Jupiter’s North North Temperate Belt.
The clouds are likely made of ammonia-ice crystals, or possibly a combination of ammonia ice and water.
Although the region as a whole appears chaotic, there is an alternating pattern of rotating, lighter-colored features on the zone’s north and south sides.
Scientists think the large-scale dark regions are places where the clouds are deeper, based on infrared observations made at the same time by Juno’s JIRAM experiment and Earth-based supporting observations.
This color-enhanced image was taken at 1:58 p.m. PDT on Oct. 29, 2018 (4:58 p.m. EDT) as the spacecraft performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter.
At the time, Juno was about 4,400 miles (7,000 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, at a latitude of approximately 40 degrees north.
Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran created this image using data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager
The image, captured in the final minutes of a recent close flyby of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured a departing view of the planet’s swirling southern hemisphere. At the time, Juno was about 55,600 miles (89,500 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, above a southern latitude of approximately 75 degrees.
NASA’s Juno probe previously revealed a stunning ‘rear view mirror’ view of Jupiter.
The image, captured in the final minutes of a recent close flyby of Jupiter, gives a view of the planet’s swirling southern hemisphere.
It shows the giant storms and vast vortices that engulf the planet from a new perspective.
‘The color-enhanced image was taken at 7:13 p.m. PDT on Sept. 6, 2018 (10:13 p.m. EDT) as the spacecraft performed its 15th close flyby of Jupiter,’ NASA said.
At the time, Juno was about 55,600 miles (89,500 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, above a southern latitude of approximately 75 degrees.
Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt created this image using data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager.
Previous images have largely concentrated on storms within Jupiter’s northern hemisphere.
Earlier this year NASA approved an update to Juno’s science operations, keeping them running until July 2021.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft took this color-enhanced image at 10:23 p.m. PDT on May 23, 2018 (1:23 a.m. EDT on May 24), as the spacecraft performed its 13th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 9,600 miles (15,500 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, above a northern latitude of 56 degrees. The region seen here is somewhat chaotic and turbulent, given the various swirling cloud formations, NASA said.
‘This provides for an additional 41 months in orbit around Jupiter and will enable Juno to achieve its primary science objectives,’ NASA says.
Juno is in 53-day orbits rather than 14-day orbits as initially planned because of a concern about valves on the spacecraft’s fuel system.
This longer orbit means that it will take more time to collect the needed science data.
An independent panel of experts confirmed in April that Juno is on track to achieve its science objectives and is already returning spectacular results.
The Juno spacecraft and all instruments are healthy and operating nominally.
NASA has now funded Juno through FY 2022.
The end of prime operations is now expected in July 2021, with data analysis and mission close-out activities continuing into 2022.
The color-enhanced image was taken at 11:31 p.m. PDT on May 23, 2018 (2:31 a.m. EDT on May 24), as the spacecraft performed its 13th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 44,300 miles (71,400 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, above a southern latitude of 71 degrees
NASA has released another stunning images of swirling storms on Jupiter.
The latest image from the Juno probe shows gigantic storms raging across the southern hemisphere of the planet.
It reveals the vast storms and swirling vortices cover the entire planet.
‘The latest image of Jupiter’s southern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on the outbound leg of a close flyby of the gas-giant planet,’ NASA said.
WHAT IS NASA’S JUNO MISSION TO JUPITER?
The Juno probe reached Jupiter in 2016 after a five-year, 1.8 billion-mile journey from Earth
The Juno probe reached Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after a five-year, 1.8 billion-mile (2.8bn km) journey from Earth.
Following a successful braking manoeuvre, it entered into a long polar orbit flying to within 3,100 miles (5,000 km) of the planet’s swirling cloud tops.
The probe skimmed to within just 2,600 miles (4,200 km) of the planet’s clouds once a fortnight – too close to provide global coverage in a single image.
No previous spacecraft has orbited so close to Jupiter, although two others have been sent plunging to their destruction through its atmosphere.
To complete its risky mission Juno survived a circuit-frying radiation storm generated by Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field.
The maelstrom of high energy particles travelling at nearly the speed of light is the harshest radiation environment in the Solar System.
To cope with the conditions, the spacecraft was protected with special radiation-hardened wiring and sensor shielding.
Its all-important ‘brain’ – the spacecraft’s flight computer – was housed in an armoured vault made of titanium and weighing almost 400 pounds (172kg).
The craft is expected to study the composition of the planet’s atmosphere until 2021.
A bright oval at bottom center stands out in the scene.
This feature appears uniformly white in ground-based telescope observations, astronomers said.
‘However, with JunoCam we can observe the fine-scale structure within this weather system, including additional structures within it.
‘There is not significant motion apparent in the interior of this feature; like the Great Red Spot, its winds probably slows down greatly toward the center.’
Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran created this image using data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager.
Jupiter’s storms up close: The view is oriented with south on Jupiter toward upper left and north toward lower right. The North North Temperate Belt is the prominent reddish-orange band left of center. At the time, the Juno spacecraft was about 4,900 miles (7,900 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the gas giant planet at a northern latitude of about 41 degrees.
Those observations show warmer, and thus deeper, thermal emission from these regions.
To the right of the bright zone, and farther north on the planet, Jupiter’s striking banded structure becomes less evident and a region of individual cyclones can be seen, interspersed with smaller, darker anticyclones.
Citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill created this image using data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager.
Most images tend to focus on Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
Once big enough to swallow three Earths, Jupiter’s ‘Great Red Spot’ is shrivelling at a rate of 140 miles (230km) per year, driving its cloud tops upwards, according to a recent NASA study.
WHAT IS JUPITER’S GREAT RED SPOT?
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a giant oval of crimson-coloured clouds in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere that race counterclockwise around the oval’s perimeter.
The biggest storm in the solar system, it appears as a deep red orb surrounded by layers of pale yellow, orange and white.
Trapped between two jet streams, the Great Red Spot is an anticyclone swirling around a centre of high atmospheric pressure that makes it rotate in the opposite direction to hurricanes on Earth.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a giant oval of crimson-coloured clouds in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere that race counterclockwise around the oval’s perimeter
Winds inside the storm have been measured at several hundreds of miles per hour, with wind storms greater than any storm on Earth, Nasa astronomers have said.
In the late 1800s it was estimated to be about 35,000 miles (about 56,000 km) in diameter – wide enough for four Earths to fit side by side.
Measuring 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometres) wide as of April 3, 2017, the Great Red Spot is 1.3 times as wide as Earth and is gradually shrinking over time.
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