Yesterday we got the first scientific results from the Juno mission at Jupiter, revealing just how weird and wonderful the gas giant is. While the science was cool, NASA also released a host of stunning new images of Jupiter and its surroundings.
These include its truly stupendously awesome poles, its rings, and some of the fascinating storms raging on its surface. We also got our first ever glimpse of its rings looking out from the inside of them. Yes, Jupiter has a ring system, although it's somewhat less impressive than Saturn's. So, here’s a selection of some of the greatest recent images of Jupiter. If you want to read more about the scientific results, you can check out our article on that here.
For the first time ever, Juno took an image of Jupiter’s rings from the inside looking out. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI
An annotated version of that same image, with the Orion constellation on it for reference.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI
This is an animation of aurorae at Jupiter’s south pole using false-color maps from Juno. Red emissions are from deeper in the atmosphere, green and white from higher up.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI
This is what the south pole of Jupiter looks like. Its hodgepodge array of storms is like nothing we could have imagined. The ovals are cyclones up to 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) in diameter. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Betsy Asher Hall/Gervasio Robles
Here we can see waves of clouds in the atmosphere of Jupiter.
NASA/SWRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Sean Doran
A stunning view of Jupiter’s bands and its south pole.
NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran