Jupiter As You’ve Never Seen It Before: NASA’s Juno Mission Releases New Images

The NASA Juno mission  spacecraft hovering around Jupiter has released some impressive photos of the planet. These new images show off Jupiter’s characteristics from space, providing a breathtaking view for observers.

What Did The New Images From NASA Juno Mission Reveal?

On 23rd October 2024, NASA Juno mission  travelled close to Jupiter (Juno’s 66th close flyby or perijove) to take pictures of the planet. All images taken by Juno were enhanced by scientists to reveal in detail the beauty of this planet.

From the available images, we can see Jupiter’s stormy atmosphere from a safe distance. To better appreciate the images taken by Juno, scientists had to increase the contrast, hence adding to the colour of the RAW image.

Juno did not only capture images showing off Jupiter’s climate environment visible from space but also images of a Folded Filamentary Region (FRR). Images of Amalthea, one of Jupiter’s moons, were also taken by Juno, showing off its potato shape. 

How Did It Manage to Capture These Shots?

The NASA Juno mission  is a space probe designed to orbit Jupiter, taking pictures of the planet as it travels. This spacecraft launched on 5th August 2011 but arrived in Jupiter’s orbit on 5th June 2016. Juno’s mission explores the Jovian system to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. NASA spent a whopping £777 million ($1 billion) to build this spacecraft and equip it with the two-megapixel camera known as JunoCam.

Part of the instruments onboard this spacecraft are a microwave radiometer, magnetometer, plasma wave sensor, ultraviolet imaging spectrograph, and so on. Powering the NASA Juno mission  spacecraft is the sun, ensuring that it stays fully functional and in Jupiter’s orbit.

Over the years, this spacecraft has been responsible for taking pictures of Jupiter. The photos in consideration here show off the planet’s storms, moons, rocky cores, atmosphere and so much more.

Juno is now reaching the end of its life course and will be succeeded by two new missions (Europa Clipper and the Jupiter Icy Moons). According to official reports, these missions are currently en route to Jupiter to replace Juno.