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Credit & Copyright: Leo Aerts
Explanation:
This webcam and telescope image of banded gas giant Jupiter
shows the transit of
three shadows cast
by Jupiter's moons in progress, captured in Belgian skies on
October 12 at 0528 UT.
Such a three shadow transit is a relatively
rare event,
even for a
large planet with many moons.
Visible in the frame are the three Galilean moons responsible,
Callisto at the far left edge,
Io closest to Jupiter's disk,
and Europa below and just left of Io.
Of their shadows on the
sunlit Jovian cloud tops,
Callisto casts the most elongated one near
the planet's south polar region at the bottom.
Io's shadow is above and right of Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
Of course viewed from Jupiter's perspective, these
shadow crossings could be seen as solar eclipses, analogous to the
Moon's shadow crossing
the sunlit face of planet Earth.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Jupiter - eclipse - Callisto - Io - Europa
Publications with words: Jupiter - eclipse - Callisto - Io - Europa
See also: