NASA Jupiter Clouds Image Looks Like An Incredible Painting

NASA is back with another stunning image, this one giving the public a relatively close look at Jupiter's atmosphere. The clouds captured in the image look, at first glance, like swirls of paint or folds of fabric. The space agency notes this part of Jupiter is "chaotic and turbulent," at least at the time its Juno spacecraft captured the image.

Juno has sent back a slew of images showing Jupiter from various points, all of them making one thing very clear: the planet's clouds are a sight to behold. One could easily compare the image below to a Van Gogh painting, one with incredibly fine details and a unique color palette. NASA offers a full-resolution version of this image here.

According to NASA, its Juno spacecraft captured this scene while approximately 9,600 miles from the top of the clouds. A pair of citizen scientists enhanced the colors of the image to make the shape of the clouds easier to discern. We're seeing here part of Jupiter's northern hemisphere and details about the weather that takes place there.

The bright colors, NASA explains, are likely the result of either ammonia and water or just ammonia, as well as some other chemicals that are still a mystery. Scientists explain that the oval near the bottom of the image appears white when observed with a telescope, but Juno's image reveals the fine structures found within, helping researchers understand the weather event.

NASA has a Mission Juno website that publishes the raw images captured by the spacecraft. Anyone can view, save, and edit these images, including ones that have been color-corrected or modified. The space agency also accepts images and data of/from Jupiter acquired through telescopes, enabling citizens to help researchers plan their mission.

SOURCE: NASA