NASA’s $1 Billion Jupiter Probe Just Sent Back Photos Of The Beautiful Gas Planet

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Image of jupiter

By  Amanda Froelich Truth Theory

There’s a lot to love about Jupiter — especially now that NASA’s $1 billion probe has sent back new images of the planet.

In August 2011, the Juno Spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, launched into space. On July 4, 2016, it finally entered Jupiter’s orbit. Every 54 days, the probe’s elliptical orbit places it close to the planet and for a time, it is the fastest man-made object in the solar system.

Though the probe’s primary scientific mission is to study Jupiter’s magnetic field, composition and gravity field, the probe also has a camera (known as JunoCam) that allows for close-up photographs to be taken.  

On October 24, the probe made its eighth fly-by (or perijove) of Jupiter. Traveling roughly 130,000 miles per hour, it snapped some compelling photographs of the planet’s atmosphere (which is a turbulent mess of hydrogen and helium gases). On October 31, 2017, the photos were finally received by NASA. Because the images were raw and grainy, the space agency commissioned outsiders to do some touch-ups and add more color.

“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 on Tuesday.

The finished result is dreamy

Twitter

Following are new photographs of Jupiter:

the spacecraft will continue to document jupiter for as long as nasa can keep it going but not forever in this older view of jupiter from junos eighth perijove two cloud bands battle for dominance one of which contains a swirling storm many times larger than a hurricane on earth 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 other times shining white clouds fill up most of a band the mixture sometimes creates features that look like faces as seen on the left in this image there are also traces of molecules like ammonia methane sulfur and water which give the clouds different colors and properties the planets atmosphere is a turbulent mess of hydrogen and helium gases some of the tempests are large enough to swallow planet earth or at least a good chunk of it others dazzle with their detail of the planets thick cloud bands and powerful storms many snapshots of jupiter take on an artistic quality there enthusiasts take the drab mostly gray image data and process it all into true to life color photos researchers upload the raw data sent by the probe to the missions website then juno flew back out into deep space passing over jupiters south pole on its exit churning storms at the poles constantly change their appearance the spacecraft then swept within a few thousand miles of the gas giant capturing stunning high resolution views of its cloud tops in the most recent flyby as with the previous eight junos flyby started over jupiters north pole

We’ll just enjoy these captivating photos of the planet, which has an average temperature of -148 °C

As Sci-Tech Universe reports, the spacecraft will continue to document Jupiter for as long as possible. But not forever.

Read more:

Electrons Have Been Recorded Whistling In Space Here Is How They Sound

Sources: Fortune

Sci-tech Universe 

I am Luke Miller, content manager at Truth Theory and creator of Potential For Change. I like to blend psychology and spirituality to help you create more happiness in your life.Grab a copy of my free 33 Page Illustrated eBook- Psychology Meets Spirituality- Secrets To A Supercharged Life You Control Here

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