Vortices Bump into a Hot Spot in Jupiter's Atmosphere

In this series of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, a dark, rectangular hot spot (top) interacts with a line of vortices that approaches from on the upper-right side (second panel). The interaction distorts the shape of the hot spot (third panel), leaving it diminished (bottom). The black scale bar is about 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) wide, or about twice as wide as the United States.

From top to bottom, these images were taken on November 21, November 24, November 27 and December 3, 2000 by Cassini's imaging science subsystem.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/GSFC

Note: For more information, see 'Hot Spots' Ride a Merry-Go-Round on Jupiter.

Dark Hot Spot in Jupiter's Atmosphere

The dark hot spot in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft is a window deep into Jupiter's atmosphere. All around it are layers of higher clouds, with colors indicating which layer of the atmosphere the clouds are in. The bluish clouds to the right are in the upper troposphere, or perhaps higher still, in the stratosphere. The reddish gyre under the hot spot to the right and the large reddish plume at its lower left are in the lower troposphere. In addition, a high, gauzy haze covers part of the frame. An annotated version of this image highlights the hot spot in the middle with an arrow and boxes around the plume and the gyre.

This image was taken on December 13, 2000, by Cassini's imaging science subsystem.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/GSFC

Note: For more information, see 'Hot Spots' Ride a Merry-Go-Round on Jupiter.

Jupiter Jet Stream

Following the path of one of Jupiter's jet streams, a line of v-shaped chevrons travels west to east just above Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Most of the planet is unfolded here in a single flat map made on December 11 and 12, 2000, when NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew past Jupiter. At the left, the chevrons run into another storm called the South Equatorial Disturbance (SED).

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Note: For more information, see Cassini Spies Wave Rattling Jet Stream on Jupiter.

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

Acetylene at Jupiter's North and South Poles

These images and movie show the distribution of the organic molecule acetylene at the north and south poles of Jupiter, based on data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in early January 2001. It is the highest-resolution map of acetylene to date on Jupiter. The enhanced emission results both from the warmer temperatures in the auroral hot spots, and probably also from an enhanced abundance in these regions. The detection helps scientists understand the chemical interactions between sunlight and molecules in Jupiter's stratosphere.

These maps were made by NASA's composite infrared spectrometer.

Photo and video credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC