The North and South Jupiter
Explanation:
A wide, looping orbit
brought Juno close to Jupiter on August 27.
As the spacecraft swung around the giant planet's poles
JunoCam
acquired these premier direct polar views,
a change from the usual nearly equatorial perspective of
outbound spacecraft and the telescopes of planet Earth.
The sunlit side of Jupiter's
north polar
region (left) was imaged about
125,000 kilometers from the cloud tops, two hours before
Juno's closest approach.
An hour after close approach the
south polar
region was captured from 94,500 kilometers away.
Strikingly different from the alternating light-colored zones
and darker belts
girdling
more familiar equatorial regions,
the polar region clouds appear more convoluted and
mottled
by many clockwise and counterclockwise rotating storm systems.
Another 35 close orbital flybys are planned during the Juno mission.
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.
