Using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno Spacecraft, citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran created this enhanced-color image of Jupiter’s bands of light and dark clouds.
Three of the white oval storms known as the “String of Pearls” are visible near the top of the image. Each of the alternating light and dark atmospheric bands in this image is wider than Earth, and each rages around Jupiter at hundreds of miles (kilometers) per hour. The lighter areas are regions where gas is rising, and the darker bands are regions where gas is sinking.
The Juno Spacecraft acquired the image on May 19, 2017, at 11:30 a.m. PST (2:30 p.m. EST) from an altitude of about 20,800 miles (33,400 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops.
JunoCam’s raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at: www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam
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