JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Image

Jupiter with Satellites Io and Europa

Jan. 29, 1996
NASA's Voyager 1 took this photo of Jupiter and two of its satellites (Io, left, and Europa) on Feb. 13, 1979. Io is above Jupiter's Great Red Spot; Europa is above Jupiter's clouds. The poles are dark and reddish.

Voyager 1 took this photo of Jupiter and two of its satellites (Io, left, and Europa) on Feb. 13, 1979. Io is about 350,000 kilometers (220,000 miles) above Jupiter's Great Red Spot; Europa is about 600,000 kilometers (375,000 miles) above Jupiter's clouds. Although both satellites have about the same brightness, Io's color is very different from Europa's. Io's equatorial region show two types of material -- dark orange, broken by several bright spots -- producing a mottled appearance. The poles are darker and reddish. Preliminary evidence suggests color variations within and between the polar regions. Io's surface composition is unknown, but scientists believe it may be a mixture of salts and sulfur. Europa is less strongly colored, although still relatively dark at short wavelengths. Markings on Europa are less evident than on the other satellites, although this picture shows darker regions toward the trailing half of the visible disk. Jupiter is about 20 million kilometers (12.4 million miles) from the spacecraft. At this resolution (about 400 kilometers or 250 miles) there is evidence of circular motion in Jupiter's atmosphere. While the dominant large-scale motions are west-to-east, small-scale movement includes eddy-like circulation within and between the bands. This photo was assembled from three black and white negatives by the Image Processing Lab at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. JPL manages and controls the Voyager project for NASA's Office of Space Science.

Download JPG
Download TIFF
Target
  • Jupiter
Spacecraft
  • Voyager 1
Instrument
  • VG Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Credit
NASA/JPL

Keep Exploring

Related Topic

News .

Engineers Keep an Eye on Fuel Supply of NASA’s Oldest Mars Orbiter

News .

NASA’s Magellan Data Reveals Volcanic Activity on Venus

News .

Study Finds Ocean Currents May Affect Rotation of Europa’s Icy Crust

Mission .

Lunar Trailblazer

News .

Study Finds Venus’ ‘Squishy’ Outer Shell May Be Resurfacing the Planet

News .

NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun

Mission .

Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration

News .

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot

News .

NASA’s Juno Team Assessing Camera After 48th Flyby of Jupiter

News .

NASA’s Psyche Mission Continues Preparation for Launch in 2023

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Directions and Maps
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono
CL#: 21-0018