Beautiful images show the stripes of Jupiter in three different wavelengths

By Georgina Torbet May 15, 2021

If you think Jupiter is beautiful in the visible light spectrum, wait until you see it in infrared and ultraviolet. Three new images of the planet have been released by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, showing the planet in all its beauty in various wavelengths.

The visible light image of Jupiter (directly below), captured by the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope, will be the most familiar. The image shows the details of the bands around the planet, formed by rotating clouds which are endlessly swirling and changing. You can also see the famous Great Red Spot in the lower half of the image to the left, which is the result of the largest storm in the solar system. The storm is over 10,000 miles wide and has wind speeds of up to 268 mph.

In the upper half of the image, you can also see a long, slim brown feature called a brown barge, a type of weather formation that stretches nearly 45,000 miles across the planet.

This visible-light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on 11 January 2017 using the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. — This visible-light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017, using the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA/ESA/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M.H. Wong and I. de Pater (UC Berkeley) et al. Acknowledgments: M. Zamani

In the infrared view of Jupiter (directly below), captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, you can see warmer areas of the planet indicated in brighter colors. There are four notable hot spots just above the equator, while in this wavelength the Great Red Spot appears dark because of its clouds.

This infrared view of Jupiter was created from data captured on 11 January 2017 with the Near-InfraRed Imager (NIRI) instrument at Gemini North in Hawaiʻi, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. It is actually a mosaic of individual frames that were combined to produce a global portrait of the planet. — This infrared view of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017, with the Near-InfraRed Imager (NIRI) instrument at Gemini North in Hawaii, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. It is actually a mosaic of individual frames that were combined to produce a global portrait of the planet. International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley) et al. Acknowledgments: M. Zamani

Finally, the stunning ultraviolet image directly below was also captured by Hubble. In this image, the Great Red Spot is dark but clearly visible. The infrared and visible light images pick up on the molecules that give the spot its distinctive color, called chromophores, and absorb blue and ultraviolet light.

This ultraviolet image of Jupiter was created from data captured on 11 January 2017 using the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. — This ultraviolet image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017, using the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA/ESA/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M.H. Wong and I. de Pater (UC Berkeley) et al. Acknowledgments: M. Zamani

By comparing these three images, scientists are able to examine features they might miss if they looked in only one wavelength. They can also compare features across wavelengths, as all three images were captured at the same time, on January 11, 2017.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…

Space

There’s a cosmic jellyfish in this week’s Hubble image

The galaxy JW100 (lower right) features prominently in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The streams of star-forming gas dripping from the disk of the galaxy like streaks of fresh paint are formed by a process called ram pressure stripping. Their resemblance to dangling tentacles led astronomers to refer to JW100 as a ‘jellyfish’ galaxy. JW100 is over 800 million light-years away, in the constellation Pegasus.

This week's Hubble image shows an unusual type of galaxy that might seen more at home in the ocean than among the stars: a jellyfish galaxy. These galaxies have a main body of stars, with tentacle-like structures reaching off away from the body in just one direction. This particular jellyfish galaxy, known as JW100, is located more than 800 million light-years away and is found in the constellation of Pegasus.

The jellyfish galaxy is located toward the bottom right of the image, with purple-pink tentacles of stars reaching downward. In the upper middle part of the image, you'll also see two very bright blobs, which are the core of another galaxy within the same galaxy cluster. This nearby galaxy, called IC 5338, is the brightest one within the cluster and has a large glowing area around it called a halo.

Space

Hubble sees the changing seasons on Jupiter and Uranus

[Jupiter: left] - The forecast for Jupiter is for stormy weather at low northern latitudes. A prominent string of alternating storms is visible, forming a ‘vortex street’ as some planetary astronomers call it. [Uranus: right] - Uranus’s north pole shows a thickened photochemical haze that looks similar to the smog over cities. Several little storms can be seen near the edge of the polar haze boundary. Note: The planets do not appear in this image to scale.

Our planet isn't the only place in the solar system with dramatic weather changes. Other planets in the solar system also experience seasons, depending on their distance from the sun, and that affects their climates. One of the many jobs of the Hubble Space Telescope is to monitor the changing seasons on other planets, particularly the larger outer planets which aren't so often observed. And this week, scientist have released their newest views of Jupiter and Uranus, taken by Hubble and showing seasonal changes on the two planets.

Jupiter is far from the sun, so most of its heat comes not from outside but from within. Jupiter is thought to have a very high core temperature, which may be a result of how it was formed but could also be topped up by processes inside the planet. As this heat escapes from the planet's interior, it affects its atmosphere which contains multiple layers and has unusual features like geometric storms at its poles.

Space

A sparkling field of stars cluster together in Hubble image

This image shows just a portion of M55, the cluster as a whole appears spherical because the stars’ intense gravitational attraction pulls them together. Hubble’s clear view above Earth’s atmosphere resolves individual stars in this cluster. Ground-based telescopes can also resolve individual stars in M55, but fewer stars are visible.

A sea of stars sparkles in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Showing an tremendous cluster of stars called a globular cluster, this view is located in the galaxy Messier 55.

A globular cluster is a group of stars which is tens of thousands or even millions of stars, and which is held together by gravity. That's why these clusters tend to form spherical shapes as the forces of gravity hold the cluster together.