NASA released the first-ever images of Jupiter’s north pole on Friday after the agency’s Juno spacecraft completed a fly-by of the planet last weekend, revealing unique characteristics of the solar system’s largest planet.
The weather activity and storm systems depicted in the images are unlike anything seen before on gas-giant planets, NASA said. The spacecraft, which arrived at Jupiter on July 4, traveled about 2,500 miles above Jupiter’s clouds.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS - The JunoCam instrument obtained this view of Jupiter on August 27, about two hours before closest approach, when the spacecraft was 120,000 miles (195,000 kilometers) away from the giant planet (i.e., for Jupiter's center).
