Jupiters Varied Surface Structures

by Science Source

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Jupiters Varied Surface Structures

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Science Source

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Photograph - Photograph

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This is a composite of several images of Jupiter taken by the New Horizons Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera, or MVIC. It illustrates the remarkable diversity of structures in Jupiter's atmosphere, in colors similar to what someone traveling on New Horizons would see. It was taken near the terminator, the boundary between day and night, and shows relatively small-scale, turbulent, whirlpool-like structures near the south pole of the planet (left, in this image). Moving toward the equator (center), the atmospheric structures become more elongated in an east-west direction. At the equator itself, a herringbone pattern of clouds known as 'mesoscale waves' is apparent, especially near the edge of the terminator where the glancing angle of sunlight emphasizes the alternating dark and light North-South stripes. The energy to form these waves comes from deeper in Jupiter's atmosphere.

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July 20th, 2016

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