NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Beams Back The Sharpest Images Of Jupiter—Ever

NASA's Juno probe performed its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter on July 5, 2022, analyzing the intricate hues and structure of the giant planet's clouds.

These two photos were generated by citizen scientist Björn Jónsson using raw data from the JunoCam instrument aboard the spacecraft. 

When the raw photograph was acquired, Juno was roughly 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometres) above Jupiter's cloud tops at a latitude of about 50 degrees. The north is rising. At the moment, the spacecraft was flying at around 130,000 mph (209,000 kilometres per hour) relative to the earth.

The first image (on the left) was altered to depict the colours seen by the human eye from Juno's vantage point. Jónsson digitally altered the second image (right) to boost colour saturation and contrast, sharpen small-scale features, and minimise compression artefacts and noise that are frequent in raw photographs. 

This vividly exposes some of Jupiter's most remarkable features, including colour variation due by changes in chemical composition, the three-dimensional character of Jupiter's swirling vortices, and the little, bright "pop-up" clouds that occur in the upper atmosphere.

The raw photos from JunoCam are available for viewing and processing into image products at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing. NASA citizen science information can be found at https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience and https://www.nasa.gov/solve/opportunities/citizenscience.

Juno can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu. More information about this discovery and other scientific findings may be found at https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/science-findings.

NASA’s $1 Billion Jupiter Probe Just Sent Back Stunning New Photos Of Jupiter

On October 24, NASA's $1 billion Juno spacecraft took its ninth series of breathtaking flyby photographs while travelling at more than 130,000 kilometres per hour above Jupiter. 

However, the sun slipped between the massive planet and Earth for more than a week, preventing the spacecraft from broadcasting back its valuable data.

Previous article has been updated.

However, now that the conjunction is finished, new raw image data from Juno's ninth perijove — the spacecraft's high-speed flybys — has flooded in. Researchers made the data available online on Tuesday, and a community of amateurs and pros has been hard at work processing it to produce colourful and breathtaking new images of Jupiter.

“Brand new Jupiter pics from @NASAJuno Perijove 09! What a blimmin' gorgeous/diabolical planet,” Seán Doran, a UK-based graphic artist who regularly processes NASA images, tweeted.

Below are some fresh, close-up images of Jupiter, along with other unbelievable views captured from earlier perijoves.

In the most recent flyby, as with the previous eight, Juno's flyby started over Jupiter's north pole.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran

The spacecraft then swept within a few thousand miles of the gas giant, capturing stunning high-resolution views of its cloud tops.

At its closest approach to Jupiter during each flyby, the robot briefly becomes the fastest human-made object in the solar system, reaching speeds of around 130,000 miles per hour.

Then Juno flew back out into deep space, passing over Jupiter's South Pole on its exit. Churning storms at the poles constantly change their appearance.

Researchers upload the raw data sent by the probe to the mission's website.

There, enthusiasts take the drab, mostly gray image data and process it all into true-to-life color photos.

Many snapshots of Jupiter take on an artistic quality.

Others dazzle with their detail of the planet's thick cloud bands and powerful storms. Jupiter is made up predominantly of hydrogen. The simple, basic gas, a prime ingredient on the sun, accounts for 90 percent of the atmosphere. Nearly 10 percent is composed of helium.

Some of the tempests are large enough to swallow planet Earth — or at least a good chunk of it.

The planet's atmosphere is a turbulent mess of hydrogen and helium gases. The atmosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System. It is mostly made of molecular hydrogen and helium in roughly solar proportions; other chemical compounds are present only in small amounts and include methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and water.

There are also traces of molecules like ammonia, methane, sulfur, and water, which give the clouds different colors and properties.

The mixture sometimes creates features that look like faces (as seen on the left in this image).

Other times, shining-white clouds fill up most of a band. With an average temperature of minus 234 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 145 degrees Celsius), Jupiter is frigid even in its warmest weather. Unlike Earth, whose temperature varies as one moves closer to or farther from the equator, Jupiter's temperature depends more on height above the surface.

Many cloud bands have features called chevrons. These atmospheric disturbances blow at several hundreds of miles per hour and sometimes zig-zag through a band, or punch through into others.

In this older view of Jupiter, from Juno's eighth perijove, two cloud bands battle for dominance — one of which contains a swirling storm many times larger than a hurricane on Earth.

The spacecraft will continue to document Jupiter for as long as NASA can keep it going. But not forever.

NASA’s $1 Billion Jupiter Probe Just Sent Back Stunning New Photos Of Jupiter

On October 24, NASA's $1 billion Juno spacecraft took its ninth series of breathtaking flyby photographs while travelling at more than 130,000 kilometres per hour above Jupiter. However, the sun slipped between the massive planet and Earth for more than a week, preventing the spacecraft from broadcasting back its valuable data.

Previous article has been updated.

However, now that the conjunction is finished, new raw image data from Juno's ninth perijove — the spacecraft's high-speed flybys — has flooded in. Researchers made the data available online on Tuesday, and a community of amateurs and pros has been hard at work processing it to produce colourful and breathtaking new images of Jupiter.

“Brand new Jupiter pics from @NASAJuno Perijove 09! What a blimmin' gorgeous/diabolical planet,” Seán Doran, a UK-based graphic artist who regularly processes NASA images, tweeted.

 

Below are some fresh, close-up images of Jupiter, along with other unbelievable views captured from earlier perijoves.

In the most recent flyby, as with the previous eight, Juno's flyby started over Jupiter's north pole.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran

The spacecraft then swept within a few thousand miles of the gas giant, capturing stunning high-resolution views of its cloud tops.

At its closest approach to Jupiter during each flyby, the robot briefly becomes the fastest human-made object in the solar system, reaching speeds of around 130,000 miles per hour.

Then Juno flew back out into deep space, passing over Jupiter's South Pole on its exit. Churning storms at the poles constantly change their appearance.

Researchers upload the raw data sent by the probe to the mission's website.

There, enthusiasts take the drab, mostly gray image data and process it all into true-to-life color photos.

Many snapshots of Jupiter take on an artistic quality.

Others dazzle with their detail of the planet's thick cloud bands and powerful storms. Jupiter is made up predominantly of hydrogen. The simple, basic gas, a prime ingredient on the sun, accounts for 90 percent of the atmosphere. Nearly 10 percent is composed of helium.

Some of the tempests are large enough to swallow planet Earth — or at least a good chunk of it.

The planet's atmosphere is a turbulent mess of hydrogen and helium gases. The atmosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System. It is mostly made of molecular hydrogen and helium in roughly solar proportions; other chemical compounds are present only in small amounts and include methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and water.

There are also traces of molecules like ammonia, methane, sulfur, and water, which give the clouds different colors and properties.

The mixture sometimes creates features that look like faces (as seen on the left in this image).

Other times, shining-white clouds fill up most of a band. With an average temperature of minus 234 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 145 degrees Celsius), Jupiter is frigid even in its warmest weather. Unlike Earth, whose temperature varies as one moves closer to or farther from the equator, Jupiter's temperature depends more on height above the surface.

Many cloud bands have features called chevrons. These atmospheric disturbances blow at several hundreds of miles per hour and sometimes zig-zag through a band, or punch through into others.

In this older view of Jupiter, from Juno's eighth perijove, two cloud bands battle for dominance — one of which contains a swirling storm many times larger than a hurricane on Earth.

The spacecraft will continue to document Jupiter for as long as NASA can keep it going. But not forever.

NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Beams Back The Sharpest Images Of Jupiter—Ever

NASA's Juno probe performed its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter on July 5, 2022, analyzing the intricate hues and structure of the giant planet's clouds.

These two photos were generated by citizen scientist Björn Jónsson using raw data from the JunoCam instrument aboard the spacecraft. When the raw photograph was acquired, Juno was roughly 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometres) above Jupiter's cloud tops at a latitude of about 50 degrees. The north is rising. At the moment, the spacecraft was flying at around 130,000 mph (209,000 kilometres per hour) relative to the earth.

The first image (on the left) was altered to depict the colours seen by the human eye from Juno's vantage point. Jónsson digitally altered the second image (right) to boost colour saturation and contrast, sharpen small-scale features, and minimise compression artefacts and noise that are frequent in raw photographs. This vividly exposes some of Jupiter's most remarkable features, including colour variation due by changes in chemical composition, the three-dimensional character of Jupiter's swirling vortices, and the little, bright "pop-up" clouds that occur in the upper atmosphere.

The raw photos from JunoCam are available for viewing and processing into image products at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing. NASA citizen science information can be found at https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience and https://www.nasa.gov/solve/opportunities/citizenscience.

Juno can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu. More information about this discovery and other scientific findings may be found at https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/science-findings.

NASA’s $1 Billion Spacecraft Beams Back the Sharpest Images of Jupiter—Ever

Juno flew by Jupiter in March of 2017 skimming 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops while traveling about 129,000 mph (208,000 km/h) relative to the planet, NASA officials said.  Hold my coffee, I can’t stop staring at the images. Is that even real?

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is the first solar-powered space probe sent out to study our solar system’s largest planet—Jupiter. Juno’s mission is to orbit the gas giant in polar orbit and study its structure while mapping its gravity and magnetic field. Studying Jupiter will allow experts to better understand large planets discovered across the cosmos.

So far—the US$1 billion spacecraft has managed to take an image of Jupiter’s poles for the first time, it has come across really bizarre cloud formations, heard and recorded mysterious auroras, and scanned deep into the planet’s thick cloud tops, doing what no other spacecraft has done before. We’re proud of you Juno.

And while science is the most important thing on the mission, NASA’s spacecraft are known for being really good photographers.

Just as the Cassini spacecraft recently beamed back unprecedented images of Saturn, Juno also has its fair share of breathtaking images—is it time we should award a Pulitzer Prize for Photography to one of those spacecraft?

Juno is the ninth probe from Earth sent to Jupiter, and only the second probe to orbit the planet, but it is the first probe to snap unprecedently beautiful images of the gas giant.

Hold my coffee, I can’t stop staring at the images. Is that even real?

(Details are updated.)