NASA captures Jupiter’s true colors, and it’s a special sight

Nowadays, every time I see a picture of something in the universe, I complain in doubt before enjoying the awe. I find myself wondering: Is this In fact How does this thing look?

Most of the time, scientists add artistic motifs to their space images. This is not just for fun (although a lot of fun), but because a little coloring goes a long way when emphasizing raw planet images or depicting cosmic light. Cannot be detected by human disciples.

What this means, for us astronauts, is that no matter how difficult it is NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope You may have tried to convince us, that the Karina Nebula is nothing like a warm, melted toffee. Despite what elementary school books say, A flower is not a yellow mustard ball. Contrary to what the Hubble Space Telescope suggests, The Veil Nebula is unfortunately not a rainbow worm. I can go on.

So, when I look at a picture of an extraterrestrial world I know it no Colorful, I’m staring a little longer than usual – and on Tuesday, we’re blessed with such a marvel.

Behold, left side of the following image, taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. It’s roughly what the surface of Jupiter would look like if we could somehow stare at it as if we were an admirer of the Moon. king of the solar systemIn fact.

Can’t help but look to the right side? same. But be careful. This is one of those suspicious photos that have been processed. It has increased color saturation and contrast to sharpen small-scale Jovian features, NASA He said in a statement. The agency explains that this manipulation was important to reduce noise or other artifacts in the image.

“This clearly reveals some of the most interesting aspects of Jupiter’s atmosphere,” NASA said, including the contrast of colors caused by the difference in chemical composition, the three-dimensional nature of Jupiter’s swirling vortices, and small, bright “emerging” clouds. that form in the upper parts of the atmosphere.

Of course, this version of the marbled skin of Jupiter is undoubtedly more striking – but consider how the left side is our reality. In space, there is an orbit made of rotating gas that can accommodate more than 1300 land in it. And…maybe it sound like that?

Credit for our newest private lens on Jupiter goes to citizen scientist Bjorn Johnson, who collected and collected publicly available data from NASA’s Juno mission. Juno is a spacecraft that spans the width of a basketball court He makes long, circular orbits around the red and brown world while capturing information and images about his planetary inspiration.

Since its launch from Earth in 2011, Juno has been a force.

. has returned amazing pictures From pictures of Jupiter, ranging from swirls Colored in sky blue and opal, to a great look pink display From Joe Jovian and even more faded, More realistic pictures of its layers.

Additionally, on April 9, Juno has reached the point of approaching him to the buyergetting just over 2,050 miles (3,300 km) above the planet’s cloud tops, setting the stage for this kind of stop-motion movie.

In connection with the new gas giant image revealed by Jónsson, Juno was about 3,300 miles (5,300 km) above the tops of Jupiter’s cloud at a latitude of about 50 degrees. “At that moment, the spacecraft was traveling at about 130,000 miles per hour (209,000 kilometers per hour) relative to the planet,” NASA said.

Another victory for Juno, and another introspective space treasure for us.

Things like this evoke a kind of strange feeling inside me – a mixture of existential dread, astonishment, silence. It’s a reminder of our small, but remarkably smart, view of the universe.