Jupiter Rotates as Moons Orbit
Video Credit & Copyright:
Makrem Larnaout
Jupiter and its moons move like our Sun and its planets.
Similarly,
Jupiter spins while
its moons circle around.
Jupiter’s rotation can be observed by tracking
circulating dark belts and light zones.
The Great Red Spot, the largest storm known,
rotates to become visible after about 15 seconds in the 48-second time lapse video.
The video
is a compilation of shorts taken over several nights
last month and combined into a digital recreation of how
24-continuous hours would appear.
Jupiter's brightest moons always orbit in the plane of the planet's rotation,
even as Earth’s spin
makes the whole system appear to
tilt.
The moons
Europa,
Ganymede, and
Io are
all visible, with Europa's
shadow appearing as the icy
Galilean moon
crosses Jupiter's disk.
Jupiter remains
near opposition this month,
meaning that it is unusually bright,
near to its closest to the Earth,
and visible nearly all night long.