Image Gallery: Jupiter’s ‘Little Red Spot’ from Juno

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstaedt/John Rogers

The Juno spacecraft has sent back a beautiful new view of Jupiter’s “Little Red Spot,” a smaller and paler version of the Great Red Spot, which is an anticyclone in the atmosphere (a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure). Other complex cloud patterns can also be seen. The image was first taken on Dec. 11, 2016. The amazing full image is below:

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Juno spacecraft exits safe mode, prepares for next close flyby of Jupiter in December

Artist’s conception of Juno orbiting Jupiter. Image Credit: NASA
Artist’s conception of Juno orbiting Jupiter. Image Credit: NASA

As reported a few days ago, the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter had entered safe mode, a precautionary turning off of all but vital instruments and other components when a software performance monitor induced a reboot of the spacecraft’s onboard computer. Now, Juno has successfully exited safe mode and is otherwise healthy and ready to continue its exploration of Jupiter.

Read MoreJuno spacecraft exits safe mode, prepares for next close flyby of Jupiter in December

Juno spacecraft peers deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere before entering safe mode

Artist’s conception of Juno orbiting Jupiter. Image Credit: NASA
Artist’s conception of Juno orbiting Jupiter. Image Credit: NASA

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been busy orbiting Jupiter and providing fantastic new views of this giant world, something not possible since the previous Galileo mission. While almost flawless so far, the mission has had a few hiccups recently. Juno entered safe mode just shortly before its next close flyby of Jupiter this week, apparently the result of a software performance monitor inducing a reboot of the spacecraft’s onboard computer. The spacecraft is otherwise healthy and Juno is conducting its own software diagnostics to determine the specific cause of the problem. Before this, Juno took its first observations deep into Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere.

Read MoreJuno spacecraft peers deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere before entering safe mode

Geysers on Europa? Hubble Space Telescope finds more evidence for water vapour plumes

Composite image showing the possible water vapor plumes near the south pole of Europa, at about the 7 o’clock position. The image of Europa, from the Galileo and Voyager missions, is superimposed on the Hubble data. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/W. Sparks (STScI)/USGS Astrogeology Science Center
Composite image showing the possible water vapour plumes near the south pole of Europa, at about the 7 o’clock position. The image of Europa, from the Galileo and Voyager missions, is superimposed on the Hubble data. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/W. Sparks (STScI)/USGS Astrogeology Science Center

Intriguing new findings about Jupiter’s moon Europa were announced today by NASA, and while they don’t involve any direct evidence for life, they do provide more information on how scientists could better search for such evidence, without having to drill through the icy crust to the ocean below. The new observations, by the Hubble Space Telescope, have added to the evidence for active water vapour plumes on Europa – an exciting possibility, since they would possibly originate from the subsurface ocean, similar to the plumes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. And just like the Cassini spacecraft has already done at Enceladus, those plumes – geysers really – could be sampled directly by a future spacecraft such as Europa Clipper.

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Image Gallery: New views of Jupiter’s poles from Juno

Partial view of Jupiter's south pole. Image Credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Matt Brealey
Partial view of Jupiter’s south pole. Click image for larger version. Image Credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Matt Brealey

The Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter has been sending back some beautiful new views of Jupiters north and south poles, not seen before in detail until now. This is still very early in the mission and there will be many more and better ones to come! The intricate swirls of storms and other clouds make the polar regions distinctly different from the banded equatorial and mid-latitude regions which we are used to seeing. Thanks to Matt Brealey for the use of his processed NASA images. More of his work is on his blog The State of Space.

Read MoreImage Gallery: New views of Jupiter’s poles from Juno