Our solar system’s citrus-colored gas giant, Jupiter, is no stranger to chaos. And earlier this month, NASA’s Juno mission captured a fascinating snapshot to prove this point.
During the probe’s 43rd close flyby of the massive planet, its JunoCam instrument spotted watercolor vortices near the north pole. These hypnotic sights are deceptively impressive: they’re hurricane-force wind patterns that can reach more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) high and stretch across hundreds of miles of gaseous plains.
While the image we see of the terrifying spectacle is adorned with gorgeous ceruleans, iridescent opals and strong greens, it’s important to note that it’s digitally processed to contain such vivid blue tones. After collecting raw data from JunoCam, specifically an image taken by the space probe about 15,600 miles (25,100 kilometers) above Jupiter’s clouds, citizen scientist Brian Swift enhanced these Jovian storms for analytical purposes.
The Juno spacecraft captured this view of Jupiter in late May 2019.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
For example, an achingly beautiful view of Jupiter and its moon, Ganymede, released earlier this year is not painted in blue tones at all, and a composite image from last year may lead one to believe that the lifestyle Jovian is surrounded by hellish flames. . In fact, if we could hypothetically appear next to Jupiter right now, we’d see these spirals projecting a variety of other colors, fascinatingly dependent on the chemistry and direction of each.
The counterclockwise and clockwise cyclones in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere, for example, offer their own taste buds. The counterclockwise and clockwise ones in the southern hemisphere also have theirs. For context, Jupiter’s “Great Red Spot” is a counterclockwise southern hemisphere storm.
This NASA image shows Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
But color schemes aside, scientists are also generally interested in understanding Jupiter’s stormy weather because such knowledge could help decode information about Jovian clouds and fluid dynamics in the atmosphere. This effort is so important, in fact, that NASA has been trying to outsource the work of sorting through images of Jupiter’s storms and other atmospheric phenomena.
You can even participate online in what is called the “Jovian Vortex Hunter” project. All you need is access to a mobile phone or laptop; so far, according to the agency, 2,404 volunteers have contributed to studying 376,725 images for the mission.
Bottom line, Jupiter is home to many mysteries, which is why the European Space Agency is set to send its own probe into the peach-striped ball of gas to join the cosmic expedition of Juno. Others have even tried to explore whether Jupiter’s nearly invisible and extremely fragile rings might hold secrets to unlocking the planet’s puzzles, to no avail.