Astronomers Capture Stunning New Images Of Jupiter | Astronomy


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Three images of Jupiter from 8m Frederick C. Gillett Gemini North Telescope at the Gemini Observatory and at NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope show the gas giant to three different types of light (infrared, visible and ultraviolet) and reveal a multitude of atmospheric features such as the great red spot, superstorms and cyclones spreading across the planet’s disk.

This visible light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using the Hubble 3 wide field camera. Near the top, a long brown feature called a “ brown barge ” stretches out. about 72,000 km (nearly 45,000 miles) east-west direction. The large red spot stands out prominently on the lower left, while the smaller feature dubbed Red Spot Jr. (known to Jovian scientists as Oval BA) appears on the lower right. Image Credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / from Pater et al. / Mr. Zamani.

The new images of Jupiter highlight the main benefit of multi-wavelength astronomy: Visualizing planets and other astronomical objects at different wavelengths of light allows scientists to glean information otherwise unavailable.

Jupiter’s big red spot is an important feature in visible and ultraviolet (UV) images, but it is almost invisible at infrared (IR) wavelengths. The planet’s counter-rotating cloud bands, on the contrary, are clearly visible in all three views.

Observing the large red spot at several wavelengths gives further surprises – the dark region of the infrared image is larger than the corresponding red oval in the visible image.

This deviation occurs because different structures are revealed by different wavelengths; IR observations show areas covered with thick clouds, while visible and UV observations show the locations of chromophores – the particles that give the big red spot its distinctive hue by absorbing blue and UV light.

This infrared view of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 with the Gemini North Telescope's near infrared imager.  In the image, the warmer areas appear bright, including four large hot spots that appear in a row just north of the equator.  South of the equator, the large, oval-shaped, cloud-covered red patch appears dark.  Image Credit: Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al.  / from Pater et al.  / Mr. Zamani.

This infrared view of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 with the Gemini North Telescope’s near infrared imager. In the image, the warmer areas appear bright, including four large hot spots that appear in a row just north of the equator. South of the equator, the large, oval-shaped, cloud-covered red patch appears dark. Image Credit: Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / from Pater et al. / Mr. Zamani.

The Red Spot Jr. – also known as the Oval BA – appears in both visible and UV observations.

This storm – at the bottom right of its larger counterpart – formed from the merger of three storms of similar size in 2000.

In the visible wavelength image, it has a clearly defined red outer edge with a white center. In IR, however, Red Spot Jr. is invisible, lost in the larger band of cooler clouds, which appear dark in IR view.

Like the great red spot, this storm is colored by chromophores that absorb solar radiation at UV and blue wavelengths, giving it a red color in visible observations and a dark appearance at UV wavelengths.

This ultraviolet image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3.  The big red spot and the red spot Jr. absorb ultraviolet radiation from the sun and therefore appear dark in this view.  Image Credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al.  / from Pater et al.  / Mr. Zamani.

This ultraviolet image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3. The big red spot and the red spot Jr. absorb ultraviolet radiation from the sun and therefore appear dark in this view. Image Credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / from Pater et al. / Mr. Zamani.

Just above Red Spot Jr. in visible sightings, a Jovian superstorm appears as a diagonal white streak extending to the right side of Jupiter’s disk.

An atmospheric phenomenon that figures prominently at IR wavelengths is a bright trail in the northern hemisphere of Jupiter.

This feature – a cyclonic vortex or perhaps a series of eddies – stretches 72,000 km (nearly 45,000 miles) in an east-west direction.

At visible wavelengths, the cyclone appears dark brown, leading to these types of features being referred to as “ brown barges ” in images from NASA’s Voyager spacecraft.

At UV wavelengths, however, the feature is barely visible under a layer of stratospheric haze, which becomes darker and darker towards the North Pole.

Likewise, aligned under the brown barge, four large “hot spots” appear bright in the IR image but dark in the visible and UV views.

Astronomers discovered such features when they first observed Jupiter in IR wavelengths in the 1960s.

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