Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 January 6

                        Tumultuous Clouds of Jupiter
    Image Credit & License: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing: Kevin
                                   M. Gill

   Explanation: Some cloud patterns on Jupiter are quite complex. The
   featured tumultuous clouds were captured in May by NASA's robotic Juno
   spacecraft currently orbiting our Solar System's largest planet. The
   image was taken when Juno was only about 15,000 kilometers over
   Jupiter's cloud tops, so close that less than half of the giant planet
   is visible. The rough white clouds on the far right are high altitude
   clouds known as pop-up clouds. Juno's mission, now extended into 2021,
   is to study Jupiter in new ways. Among many other things, Juno has been
   measuring Jupiter's gravitational field, finding surprising evidence
   that Jupiter may be mostly a liquid.

                       Tomorrow's picture: star flame
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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