Cyclones at Jupiter’s North Pole

This is a pretty cool false color image of cyclones occurring at Jupiter’s North Pole courtesy of NASA’s Juno mission.

Cyclones at the north pole of Jupiter appear as swirls of striking colors in this extreme false color rendering of an image from NASA’s Juno mission. The huge, persistent cyclone found at Jupiter’s north pole is visible at the center of the image, encircled by smaller cyclones that range in size from 2,500 to 2,900 miles (4,000 to 4,600 kilometers). Together, this pattern of storms covers an area that would dwarf the Earth.

The color choices in this image reveal both the beauty of Jupiter and the subtle details present in Jupiter’s dynamic cloud structure. Each new observation that Juno provides of Jupiter’s atmosphere complements computer simulations and helps further refine our understanding of how the storms evolve over time.

Cyclones at Jupiter's North Pole
Cyclones at Jupiter’s North Pole

NASA Releases Image of Jupiter and Europa Taken By Hubble

Hubble Telescope Image of Jupiter and Europa - August 25, 2020
Hubble Telescope Image of Jupiter and Europa – August 25, 2020

An image of Jupiter taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light on Aug. 25, 2020, is giving researchers an entirely new view of the giant planet and offers insights into the altitude and distribution of the planet’s haze and particles. This complements Hubble’s visible-light pictures that show the ever-changing cloud patterns. In this photo, the parts of Jupiter’s atmosphere that are at higher altitude, especially over the poles, look red from atmospheric particles absorbing ultraviolet light. Conversely, the blue-hued areas represent the ultraviolet light being reflected off the planet. A new storm at upper left, which erupted on Aug. 18, 2020, is grabbing the attention of scientists in this image. The “clumps” trailing the white plume appear to be absorbing ultraviolet light, similar to the center of the Great Red Spot, and Red Spot Jr. directly below it. This provides researchers with more evidence that this storm may last longer on Jupiter than most storms.

The Artemis Accords–NASA’s Proposed Framework for Moon Exploration and Exploitation

NASA has released the Artemis Accords, which it is billing as a framework that outlines how the Moon will be explored and exploited consistent with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

The accords call for economic exploitation of the Moon and the establishment of Safety Zones that would appear to be pseudo-national territories that nations would agree to respect and not interfere with.

Avoiding harmful interference is an important principle of the Outer Space Treaty, which is implemented by the Artemis Accords.

Specifically, via the Artemis Accords, NASA and partner nations will provide public information regarding the location and general nature of operations which will inform the scale and scope of ‘Safety Zones’.

Notification and coordination between partner nations to respect such safety zones will prevent harmful interference, implementing Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty and reinforcing the principle of due regard.

Swan Nebula

The Swan Nebula (also known as the Omega Nebula) is 5,000 to 6,000 light years away and is one of the largest star-forming areas in our galaxy. NASA recently released this image of the nebula obtained from the SOFIA Telescope.

Uncovering the nebula’s secrets is no simple task. It’s located more than 5,000 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Its center is filled with more than 100 of the galaxy’s most massive young stars. These stars may be many times the size of our Sun, but the youngest generations are forming deep in cocoons of dust and gas, where they are very difficult to see, even with space telescopes. Because the central region glows very brightly, the detectors on space telescopes were saturated at the wavelengths SOFIA studied, similar to an over-exposed photo. SOFIA’s infrared camera called FORCAST, the Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope, however, can pierce through these cocoons.

Swan Nebula
Swan Nebula

Jupiter Abyss

Jupiter Abyss is an image generated by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of an area within a Jovian jet stream showing a vortex that has an intensely dark center. Nearby, other features display bright, high altitude clouds that have puffed up into the sunlight.

The color-enhanced image was taken at 12:55 a.m. PDT (3:55 a.m. EDT) on May 29, 2019, as the spacecraft performed its 20th science flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 9,200 miles (14,800 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops, above approximately 52 degrees north latitude.

Jupiter Abyss
Jupiter Abyss