Jupiter Portrait
Explanation:
Every day is a cloudy day
on
Jupiter, the
Solar
System's reigning gas giant.
And swirling
cloud tops are all you see in
this stunningly detailed
true color image, a portion of a large digital
mosaic portrait of Jupiter recorded
from the Cassini spacecraft during its
Jovian
flyby in December 2000.
The smallest features visible are about 60 kilometers across.
Jupiter's composition is dominated by hydrogen and
the clouds contain
hydrogen compounds like ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and even water.
A truly giant planet,
Jupiter's diameter is over 11 times
the diameter of Earth and the smallest storms visible in
the Cassini Jupiter portrait are similar in size to large
terrestrial
hurricanes.
Now
traveling beyond Jupiter, the
Cassini spacecraft is scheduled
to reach the Saturnian system in July of 2004.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
