Swimming on Jupiter
Explanation:
On October 29, the Juno spacecraft once again dove near
the turbulent Jovian cloud tops.
Its 16th orbital closest approach or
perijove passage,
brought Juno within 3,500 kilometers of
the Solar System's largest planetary atmosphere.
These frames,
recorded by JunoCam
while the spacecraft cruised 20 - 50 thousand kilometers
above the planet's middle southern latitudes,
seem to follow a swirling cloud shaped remarkably like a dolphin.
Swimming along
Jupiter's darker
South South Temperate Belt, this dolphin is itself planet-sized though,
some thousands of kilometers across.
Juno's next perijove
passage will be December 21.
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.
