A new image captured by NASA’s Juno Jupiter explorer reveals features in the turbulent atmosphere of the solar system’s largest planet in the same colors a human observer would see them. Juno(opens in new tab) took the image on July 5, 2022, during its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter(opens in new tab) using its JunoCam instrument. The spacecraft … Read more
The shell of Jupiter’s famous ice moon may be formed, in part, by pure underwater snow that floats up instead of falling down. A new study, published in the August issue of the journal Astrobiology, finds that Europa’s icy crust might be built partially by “frazil ice,” a fluffy accumulation of ice crystals that also … Read more
Jupiter’s innards are full of the remains of baby planets that the gas giant gobbled up as it expanded to become the behemoth we see today, scientists have found. The findings come from the first clear view of the chemistry beneath the planet’s cloudy outer atmosphere. Despite being the largest planet in the solar system, … Read more
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. The gas giant features beautiful banded cloud layers; a set of thin, dusty rings; the famous Great Red Spot; and dozens of varied moons. How did Jupiter get its name? As the fourth-brightest object in Earth’s sky — after … Read more
NASA has plunged three spacecraft into gas giants. Two of them, Galileo and Cassini, were at the ends of their missions when they met their doom in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. But the Galileo spacecraft arrived with a passenger — a probe designed to drop into a gas giant atmosphere. NASA lost … Read more
