We have never seen Jupiter‘s North Pole until now, thanks to NASA‘s Juno spacecraft, which has sent back to Earth stunning new images that have changed our perspective of this giant planet.

Taken at a distance of 48,000 miles above the polar cloud tops, the bluish hue is a notable contrast from what we’ve previously seen from the surface of Jupiter. There is a clouyd cover higher in altitude than other features, an area that is violent with swirling storms. All of this is completely unique in our solar system.

The bigger, brighter features in the polar region NASA describes as having a “pinwheel” shape “reminiscent of the shape of terrestrial hurricanes.”

The Juno spacecraft is a part of NASA‘s New Frontiers program, and will complete 36 orbital flybys, the first of which came to within 2,500 miles above the violent cloud cover.

by JERHOW

Share this story:

Comments