Nuages du Pole Sud de Jupiter par Juno
Juno just completed its fourth pass near Jupiter.
Launched from Earth in 2011 and arriving at
Jupiter just last July,
robotic Juno concluded its latest
elliptical orbit around our
Solar System's largest planet
11 days ago.
Pictured
here from that pass is a new
high-resolution image
of the southern hemisphere of Jupiter featuring a
mesmerizing tapestry of
swirling cloud systems.
The terminator
between day and night cuts diagonally across the bottom,
meaning that the Sun is positioned off the top right.
Large Oval BA is visible in orange on the far right.
Reasons for the details and
colors of Jupiter's cloud swirls are currently unknown.
Juno's
planned six year mission will study Jovian giant in new ways,
including trying to determine if beneath its thick clouds, Jupiter has a solid core.