New Stunning Images of Jupiter Captured by Hubble Space Telescope

The new Hubble images taken on January 5 and 6, 2024 show many large storms and small white clouds in Jupiter’s atmosphere, indicating a lot of activity.

Jupiter’s colorful clouds create a constantly changing display of shapes and colors in its atmosphere.

The planet experiences various stormy weather patterns, including low-pressure systems, high-pressure systems, wind shear, and the Great Red Spot, the largest storm in the solar system.

Jupiter is covered by a cloud of ammonia ice crystals, about 48 km thick in an atmosphere that is tens of thousands of kilometers deep, resulting in the planet’s distinctive stripes.

The banding effect is caused by air moving at different latitudes and speeds of up to 563 km per hour.

The zones, where the atmosphere rises, are brightly colored, while the belts, where the air falls, are darker. Storms and turbulence occur when these opposing flows interact.

Hubble continues to monitor Jupiter and other exoplanets annually through the Outer Planet Atmosphere Legacy (OPAL) Program.

“The left Hubble image shows the iconic Great Red Spot prominently in Jupiter’s atmosphere,” stated Hubble astronomers.

“To the lower right is a feature known as Red Spot Junior, a high-pressure system resulting from storms in previous years.”

“This year, it appears to be turning red again, possibly due to compounds like sulfur and phosphorus.”

“In the right image, storm activity is visible in the opposite hemisphere, with two distinct storm systems rotating in opposite directions.”

These storms are expected to pass each other as they repel through their rotations.

“The presence of many storms and clouds in Jupiter’s atmosphere indicates a high level of activity,” said Dr. Amy Simon, OPAL project leader and astronomer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Despite its small size, Jupiter’s moon Io shows volcanic activity, visible through Hubble’s sensitivity to blue and violet wavelengths.”