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Feb 28, 2017
A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno
Image Credit & Copyright: Astronomy Picture of the Day -- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Courtesy of http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno
Image Credit & Copyright: Astronomy Picture of the Day -- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Courtesy of http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
This storm cloud on Jupiter is almost as large as the Earth.
Known as a
white oval,
the swirling cloud is a high pressure system equivalent to an
Earthly anticyclone.
The cloud is one of a
"string of pearls" ovals south of
Jupiter's famous
Great Red Spot.
Possibly, the Great Red Spot is just a really large
white oval than
turned red.
Surrounding clouds show interesting
turbulence as they
flow
around and
past the oval.
The featured image
was captured on February 2 as NASA's robotic
spacecraft Juno made a new pass just above the cloud tops of the
Jovian world.
Over the next few years, Juno will continue to orbit and
probe Jupiter,
determine atmospheric water abundance, and attempt to determine if
Jupiter has a solid surface beneath its thick clouds.
