Orbiting Jupiter
Credit &
License:
Data: NASA,
Juno,
SwRI,
MSSS;
Data Processing: Gerald Eichstadt;
Image Processing & Video:
Sean Doran
What would it be like to orbit Jupiter?
The
dramatic featured video depicts just this and was made from images taken by
NASA's
Juno spacecraft currently orbiting the Jovian giant.
Juno recently completed its
sixth pass near
Jupiter during its looping elliptical six-week orbit.
As the
time-lapse video starts,
alternating dark and light cloud bands passed underneath the spacecraft as it
approaches Jupiter's South Pole.
These clouds contain complex textures involving eddies, swirls,
ovals,
and extended clouds that have no direct analog from Earth.
As the spacecraft passes
beneath Jupiter,
new cloud patterns devoid of long bands emerge but are again rich with alien swirls and ovals.
Over the next few years,
Juno
will continue to orbit and probe Jupiter, determine atmospheric water abundance,
and attempt to determine if
Jupiter has a solid surface underneath these fascinating clouds.