Amazing images
Jupiter’s surreal clouds swirl in a new view from NASA’s Juno probe
19 July 2024
© NASA
Vivid clouds swirl across Jupiter’s skies like colourful brush strokes across a painting in a new photo from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image, taken during the spacecraft’s 61st close flyby of Jupiter on 12 May 2024, hones in on activity in the planet’s northern hemisphere. Juno was approximately 29,000 kilometres (18,000 miles) above Jupiter’s cloud tops when it captured this new view, highlighting the planet’s persistent storms and colourful bands created by strong winds in its atmosphere. “It provides a detailed view of chaotic clouds and cyclonic storms in an area known to scientists as a folded filamentary region,” NASA officials said. “In these regions, the zonal jets that create the familiar banded patterns in Jupiter’s clouds break down, leading to turbulent patterns and cloud structures that rapidly evolve over the course of only a few days.”