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 June 28

                      Europa and Jupiter from Voyager 1
     Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 1, JPL, Caltech; Processing & License:
                        Alexis Tranchandon / Solaris

   Explanation: What are those spots on Jupiter? Largest and furthest,
   just right of center, is the Great Red Spot -- a huge storm system that
   has been raging on Jupiter possibly since Giovanni Cassini's likely
   notation of it 355 years ago. It is not yet known why this Great Spot
   is red. The spot toward the lower left is one of Jupiter's largest
   moons: Europa. Images from Voyager in 1979 bolster the modern
   hypothesis that Europa has an underground ocean and is therefore a good
   place to look for extraterrestrial life. But what about the dark spot
   on the upper right? That is a shadow of another of Jupiter's large
   moons: Io. Voyager 1 discovered Io to be so volcanic that no impact
   craters could be found. Sixteen frames from Voyager 1's flyby of
   Jupiter in 1979 were recently reprocessed and merged to create the
   featured image. About 43 years ago, Voyager 1 launched from Earth and
   started one of the greatest explorations of the Solar System ever.

                       Free Download: Voyager Posters
                    Tomorrow's picture: double sky trees
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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