A Jupiter Io Montage from New Horizons
Explanation:
As the New Horizons spacecraft sweeps through the Solar System,
it is taking breathtaking images of the planets.
In February of last year,
New Horizons
passed Jupiter and the ever-active Jovian moon
Io.
In
this
montage, Jupiter was captured in three bands of
infrared light making
the
Great Red Spot look white.
Complex
hurricane-like ovals, swirls, and
planet-ringing bands are visible in
Jupiter's complex atmosphere.
Io is
digitally
superposed in natural color.
Fortuitously, a plume was emanating from
Io's volcano
Tvashtar.
Frost and sulfuric lava cover the volcanic moon, while
red-glowing lava
is visible beneath the
blue sunlight-scattering plume.
The robotic
New Horizons spacecraft
is on track to arrive at
Pluto in 2015.
Note:
Meet sky enthusiasts, astro bloggers, and APOD editor RN in Austin tonight.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
