From Earth to the Solar System: Jupiter’s surface

THE GREAT RED SPOT: Here’s a close up of The Great Red Spot of Jupiter. It’s a vast anticyclone located in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere, and is about three times the size of Earth. Visible even through small backyard telescopes, its color changes as different chemicals and gases are churned from the bottom layers up to the surface. The winds at the edge of the spot can reach up to 350 miles per hour. The Great Red Spot was probably first observed by astronomer Giovanni Cassini in the late 1600’s, but it wasn’t observed up close until NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft made its flyby in 1974. (Image Credit: JPL/NASA)

CLOUD CITY: Everything visible in this image is a cloud. Unlike on Earth where only water condenses to form clouds, Jupiter’s clouds are made of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and water. Jupiter’s many jet streams shear clouds apart, forming characteristic streaks. The fastest jet stream winds blow eastward at 480km (300 miles) per hour. The most energetic features are the small, bright clouds to the left of the Great Red Spot—they grow and disappear over a few days and generate lightning. The striking colors in this image of Jupiter, taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in 2000, are very close to the way the human eye would see them. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

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