JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Image

NASA's Juno Mission Spots Two Jovian Moons

Nov. 17, 2022
As NASA's Juno spacecraft sped low over the giant planet's cloud tops, on Nov. 29, 2021, its JunoCam instrument captured this look at two of Jupiter's largest moons.

On Nov. 29, 2021, NASA's Juno mission completed its 38th close flyby of Jupiter. As the spacecraft sped low over the giant planet's cloud tops, its JunoCam instrument captured this look at two of Jupiter's largest moons.

In the foreground, hurricane-like spiral wind patterns called vortices can be seen spinning in the planet's north polar region. These powerful storms can be over 30 miles (50 kilometers) in height and hundreds of miles across.

Below Jupiter's curving horizon, two Jovian moons make an appearance: Callisto (below) and Io (above).

Juno will make close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, the first such close encounters with this intriguing moon in over two decades. Io is the most volcanic body in our solar system, and its eruptions leave a trail of material behind that both fills Jupiter's magnetosphere and creates a torus of gas and dust around Jupiter. During the flybys, Juno will study Io's volcanoes and geology, search for signs of a magma ocean, and investigate how Io interacts with Jupiter's giant magnetosphere.

Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt used raw JunoCam data to make the original version of this image, and then another citizen scientist, Thomas Thomopoulos, further processed it, zooming in and making color enhancements.

In this view, north is down. At the time the image was taken, Juno was about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops, at a latitude of about 69 degrees, traveling at a speed of about 123,000 mph (198,000 kilometers per hour) relative to the planet.

JunoCam's raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing. More information about NASA citizen science can be found at https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience and https://www.nasa.gov/solve/opportunities/citizenscience.

More information about Juno is at https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu. For more about this finding and other science results, see https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/science-findings.

Download JPG
Download TIFF
Mission
Target
  • Jupiter
Spacecraft
  • Juno
Instrument
  • JunoCam
Credit
Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSSImage processing by Gerald Eichstädt/Thomas Thomopoulos © CC BY

Keep Exploring

4 JunoCam Views of Jovian Moon Io

Juno Getting Closer to Jovian Moon Io

4 Looks at Io Volcanoes

Io in Color and Infrared

Juno Zooms in on Jupiter's Moon Ganymede

NASA's Juno Mission Explores the Magnetic Connection Between Jupiter and Ganymede

Juno Offers a Window Seat for a Jupiter Flyby

Looking for Eruptions at Jupiter's Moon Europa

JunoCam Captures a Northern Jet on Jupiter

JunoCam Close-Up of Europa

Related Topics

News .

NASA Invites Public to Sign Poem That Will Fly Aboard Europa Clipper

News .

NASA to Discuss Conclusions of Psyche Mission Independent Review Board

Solar System .

Space Trivia Question

Mission .

Surveyor 4

News .

NASA Scientists Make First Observation of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus

News .

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Captures View of Mars’ Belva Crater

News .

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight to Fly by Earth

News .

NASA’s Juno Mission Getting Closer to Jupiter’s Moon Io

News .

International Sea Level Satellite Spots Early Signs of El Niño

News .

NASA Calls End to Lunar Flashlight After Some Tech Successes

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