Jupiter Compass Image

 Jupiter Compass Image

A side-by-side image titled "Jupiter HST/WFC3/UVIS," shows opposite faces of Jupiter on the black background of space. Below the title is a color key with the filters and colors used to create the images – "F395N" blue; "F502N" green, and "F631N" red. Centered at the bottom is the label "January 5, 2024." To the left is a scale bar "34,000 mi over 55,000 km." Jupiter is banded in stripes of brownish orange, light gray, soft yellow, and shades of cream. Many large storms and small white clouds punctuate the planet. The largest storm, the Great Red Spot, is the most prominent feature in the left bottom third of this view. To its lower right is a smaller reddish anticyclone, Red Spot Jr. Another small red anticyclone appears near the top center of the image. On the right-hand image, centered at the bottom is the label "January 6, 2024." To the right are compass arrows indicating the orientation on the sky. The north arrow points towards the 11 o'clock direction. The east arrow points toward 8 o'clock. This other side of Jupiter is also banded in stripes of brownish orange, light gray, soft yellow, and shades of cream, with many large storms and small white clouds punctuating the planet. At upper right of center, a pair of storms appear next to each other: a deep-red, triangle-shaped cyclone and a reddish anticyclone. Toward the far-left edge of the image is Jupiter's tiny moon Io. The variegated orange color is where volcanic outflow deposits are seen on Io's surface.

 

 

Credits

Science

NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC)

About The Object
Object Name Jupiter
Object Description Planet
Distance On January 5th and 6th, 2024 Jupiter was 4.56 AU from Earth (about 424 million miles or 682 million km).
About The Data
Data Description The HST observations include those from program (A. Simon)
Instrument WFC3/UVIS
Exposure Dates Jan. 5-6, 2024
Filters F395N, F502N, F631N
About The Image
Color Info These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample medium wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F395N, Green: F502N, Red: F631N.
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.