Enhanced: The Dolphin Cloud on Jupiter
Explanation:
Do you see the dolphin-shaped cloud on Jupiter?
The cloud was visible last year during
perijove 16, the sixteenth time that NASA's robotic
spacecraft Juno passed near Jupiter since it arrived in mid-2016.
During each perijove,
Juno
passes near a slightly different part of Jupiter's cloud tops.
The dolphin shape may be surprising but is not scientifically significant -- clouds
on
Jupiter and
Earth
are constantly shifting and can temporarily
mimic many familiar shapes.
The cloud appears in Jupiter's South Temperate Belt (STB),
a band of dark and dropping clouds that rings the
planet and also contains
Oval BA, dubbed
Red Spot Jr.
The
featured image was digitally processed to enhance color and contrast.
Juno's next swoop near Jupiter -- perijove 20 -- will occur on late May.
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.
