Jupiter's Great Red Spot

This Voyager 2 image shows the region of Jupiter extending from the equator to the southern polar latitudes in the neighborhood of the Great Red Spot. A white oval, different from the one observed in a similar position at the time of the Voyager 1 encounter, is situated south of the Great Red Spot. The region of white clouds now extends from east of the red spot and around its northern boundary, preventing small cloud vortices from circling the feature. The disturbed region west of the red spot has also changed since the equivalent Voyager 1 image. It shows more small scale structure and cloud vortices being formed out of the wave structures. The picture was taken on July 3, 1979 from 6 million kilometers (3.72 million miles).

Photo credit: NASA/JPL

Rotation of Jupiter

Jupiter observed with the 1 meter telescope at the Pic du Midi observatory and a Basler Scout Camera; images taken between October 10 and October 15, 2011.

Video credit: S2P/IMCCE/OPM/JL Dauvergne/Elie Rousset/Eric Meza/Philippe Tosi/François Colas/Jean Pajus/Xavi Nogués/Emil Kraaikamp

Jupiter and Io

Jupiter's four largest satellites, including Io, the golden ornament in front of Jupiter in this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, have fascinated Earthlings ever since Galileo Galilei discovered them in 1610 in one of his first astronomical uses of the telescope. This true-color composite frame, made from narrow angle images taken on December 12, 2000, captures Io and its shadow in transit against the disk of Jupiter. The distance of the spacecraft from Jupiter was 19.5 million kilometers. The image scale of the high resolution image is 117 kilometers per pixel. The entire body of Io, about the size of Earth's Moon, is periodically flexed as it speeds around Jupiter and feels, as a result of its non-circular orbit, the periodically changing gravitational pull of the planet. The heat arising in Io's interior from this continual flexure makes it the most volcanically active body in the solar system, with more than 100 active volcanoes. The white and reddish colors on its surface are due to the presence of different sulfurous materials. The black areas are silicate rocks.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Earth and Moon, by Juno

On its way to the biggest planet in the solar system -- Jupiter, NASA's Juno spacecraft took time to capture its home planet and its natural satellite -- the Moon.

"This is a remarkable sight people get to see all too rarely," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "This view of our planet shows how Earth looks from the outside, illustrating a special perspective of our role and place in the universe. We see a humbling yet beautiful view of ourselves."

The image was taken by the spacecraft’s camera, JunoCam, on August 26 when the spacecraft was about 6 million miles (9.66 million kilometers) away. The image was taken as part of the mission team’s checkout of the Juno spacecraft. The team is conducting its initial detailed checks on the spacecraft’s instruments and subsystems after its launch on August 5.

Juno covered the distance from Earth to the Moon (about 250,000 miles or 402,000 kilometers) in less than one day's time. It will take the spacecraft another five years and 1,740 million miles (2,800 million kilometers) to complete the journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft will orbit the planet's poles 33 times and use its eight science instruments to probe beneath the gas giant's obscuring cloud cover to learn more about its origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere, and look for a potential solid planetary core.

The solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:25 a.m. PDT (12:25 p.m. EDT) on August 5 to begin its five-year journey to Jupiter.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Jupiter from the Ground

Ground-based astronomers will be playing a vital role in NASA's Juno mission. Because Jupiter has such a dynamic atmosphere, images from the amateur astronomy community are needed to help the JunoCam instrument team predict what features will be visible when the camera's images are taken.

This image was acquired by Damian Peach on September 12, 2010, when Jupiter was close to opposition. South is up and the "Great Red Spot" is visible. Two of Jupiter's moons, Io and Ganymede, can also be seen in this image.

Photo credit: NASA/Damian Peach, Amateur Astronomer

What Juno Will See at Jupiter's South Pole

This simulated view of the south pole of Jupiter illustrates the unique perspective of NASA's Juno mission. The spacecraft's polar orbit will allow Juno's camera, called JunoCam, to image Jupiter's clouds from a vantage point never accessed by other spacecraft.

JunoCam was designed to return the best-ever images of Jupiter's pole. It has a 58-degree-wide field of view encompassing the entire polar region. The view illustrated here simulates an image taken 40 minutes before Juno's closest approach to Jupiter. At closest approach, JunoCam's images of Jupiter's cloudtops will have a resolution better than 3.1 miles (5 kilometers).

Illustration credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Covering Jupiter from Earth and Space

Ground-based astronomers will be playing a vital role in NASA's Juno mission. Because Jupiter has such a dynamic atmosphere, images from the amateur astronomy community are needed to help the JunoCam instrument team predict what features will be visible when the camera's images are taken.

This image was acquired by Freddy Willems on July 26, 2011. The level of detail captured here illustrates how well ground-based astronomers are able to image the planet. The views acquired by Juno's camera, called JunoCam, as the spacecraft travels through its polar orbit provide a unique vantage point not available to Earth-based observers. JunoCam images therefore complement equatorial views like this one, allowing scientists to study the global dynamics of this giant planet's atmosphere. South is up in this image.

Photo credit: NASA/Freddy Willems, Amateur Astronomer

The Launch of Juno

The first video is an "official" video, compiled from several different camera angles and including, toward the end, some animation sequences showing events in the launch sequence that could not be captured with cameras. The second video is a compilation of a number of launch videos from various cameras both on the ground and on board the rocket.

NASA's Juno spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter after being launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on August 5 at 11:25 a.m. Eastern. The solar-powered spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter in July 2016 and orbit its poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's interior, atmosphere and aurora. Scientists believe Jupiter holds the key to better understanding the origins of our solar system.

Video credit: NASA

Juno on the Launch Pad

NASA's Juno spacecraft awaits launch from inside the payload fairing atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle. Juno and its rocket are at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Photo credit: NASA/Kennedy Space Center

Amateurs to Take a Crack at Juno Images

Data from the camera onboard NASA's Juno mission, called JunoCam, will be made available to the public for processing into their own images. An example of this type of collaboration is illustrated here with an image of Jupiter taken by NASA's Voyager mission, and processed by Björn Jónsson. The image highlights Jupiter's "Great Red Spot."

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Juno Being Lowered into Position

At Space Launch Complex 41, the Juno spacecraft, enclosed in an Atlas payload fairing, was transferred into the Vertical Integration Facility where it was positioned on top of the Atlas rocket stacked inside.

Photo credit: NASA/Kennedy Space Center

Juno's Solar Array

In this image technicians stow for launch solar array #2 for NASA's Juno spacecraft. The photo was taken on May 20, 2011 at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. NASA's Juno spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. August 5. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/KSC