NASA’s Juno spacecraft has consistently been coming through with the best close-up images of Jupiter we’ve ever seen. But a newly released, enhanced-color image of a large dark spot might be the most ethereal of all—its swirling, colorful clouds make it seem like a Jovian Van Gogh.
This glorious image was captured with JunoCam on February 2nd at 8:13 a.m. EST, when the Jupiter-orbiting spacecraft was 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) above the gas giant’s cloud tops. According to NASA, the target—a storm aptly named “Dark Spot”—was publicly voted upon by JunoCam’s online community of space enthusiasts and amateur astronomers. Citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko colorized the image, bringing close attention to the mesmerizing clouds that look almost marbleized. The raw images—which are still spectacular—are all available on the JunoCam website.
While not much is known about this dark storm yet, it’s probably pretty intense. Jupiter is known for its epically violent, constantly-shifting storms; weather patterns that can become thousands of miles in diameter and rage for decades. Exactly what internal processes drive these storms is something the Juno mission team hopes to discover in the months ahead.
Earlier today, Juno completed its fifth close flyby since reaching Jupiter on July 4th, 2016. The details of the event are expected to be published in the coming day and weeks, along with, hopefully, more photos. As evidenced by this image, Jupiter’s chaotic storms make for one hell of a gorgeous show.
source: gizmodo.com by Rae Paoletta
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