Stunning views of Jupiter

NASA's Juno spacecraft launched in 2011 and swung into close orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. The probe's mission is to send back data about the atmosphere and composition of the giant planet, whose orbit ranges from 365 million to 601 million miles away from Earth.

Juno has also been sending back extraordinary images of Jupiter, surprising and delighting scientists. Click through to see some of the best...

Two views of Jupiter

Two views of Jupiter from the Juno spacecraft as it descended across the planet's cloud tops from the north, left, to more southerly regions, right.

JunoCam sequence

Views of Jupiter taken by the Juno probe as it swept down from the north, left, to south, right, during a close flyby in May 2017.

Jupiter rising

This image of the sunlit part of Jupiter and its swirling atmosphere was created by a citizen scientist (Alex Mai) using data from Juno's JunoCam instrument.

Closeup of cloud tops

A spectacular image of Jupiter's cloud tops taken during a low-altitude pass by NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Jupiter's north pole

A view looking down on Jupiter's north pole, assembled by amateur astronomers from multiple passes by the Juno spacecraft. By stitching together photographs taken during different orbits, the photo processors could show the pole in full sunlight.

Infrared images

This animation of four images shows Jupiter in infrared light as seen by NASA's InfraRed Telescope Facility, or IRTF, on May 16, 2015. 

Jupiter's polar haze

This false color view of Jupiter's polar haze was created by citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt using data from the JunoCam instrument on NASA's Juno spacecraft.

The image was taken on Dec. 11, 2016, when the spacecraft was 285,000 miles (459,000 kilometers) from Jupiter on the outbound leg of its third close flyby. This image is composited from four images taken through different filters: red, green, blue and methane.

Jupiter and its moons

Juno's camera and science instruments were shut off before the Jupiter orbit insertion rocket firing in July 2016. One of the last shots from the JunoCam imager before it was shut down showed Jupiter and the four Galilean moons.

Four moons of Jupiter

A "family portrait" of Jupiter's four Galiliean moons -- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto -- taken by the New Horizons spacecraft and released in 2007.

Europa

Europa, one of the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo in 1610, is believed to harbor a vast salt water ocean beneath a crust of ice. Scientists believe the hidden ocean could represent an abode for life if organic compounds are present.

Jupiter in color

Jupiter, as seen by NASA's Juno probe on Aug. 27, 2016, about two hours before closest approach at a distance of 120,000 miles. The orderly atmospheric layered belts and zones seen at lower latitudes disappear toward the poles.

Swirling surface

Jupiter shows off its swirls in this image sent back from the Juno space probe.

Portrait of Jupiter

NASA's Cassini spacecraft took narrow-angle images of Jupiter's outer atmosphere in 2000, showing the giant planet as if it were constantly bathed in sunlight.

Aurora glow

This image combines an image taken with Hubble Space Telescope in the optical (taken in spring 2014) and observations of its auroras in the ultraviolet, taken in 2016.

Great Red Spot

During approach to Jupiter, NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this image of the giant planet's north polar region and Great Red Spot.

Cloudscape

This close-up view of Jupiter captures the turbulent region just west of the Great Red Spot in the South Equatorial Belt, with resolution better than any previous pictures from Earth or other spacecraft. NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this image with its JunoCam citizen science instrument when the spacecraft was a mere 5,400 miles (8,700 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloudtops on Dec. 11, 2016

Comet fragments

Fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in July 1994 created dark clouds on Jupiter, visible even in small telescopes.

Stormy planet

Small bright clouds dot Jupiter's entire south tropical zone in this image acquired by JunoCam on NASA's Juno spacecraft on May 19, 2017, at an altitude of 7,990 miles (12,858 kilometers).

Infrared view

As NASA's Juno spacecraft approached Jupiter on Aug. 27, 2016, the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument captured the planet's glow in infrared light.

The video is composed of 580 images collected over a period of about nine hours while Jupiter completed nearly a full rotation on its axis.

Light and dark

This image, taken by the JunoCam imager on NASA's Juno spacecraft, highlights a feature on Jupiter where multiple atmospheric conditions appear to collide. The ghostly bluish streak across the right half of the image is a long-lived storm. The egg-shaped spot on the lower left is where incoming small dark spots make a hairpin turn.

The image was taken on March 27, 2017, as the Juno spacecraft performed a close flyby of Jupiter. When the image was taken, the spacecraft was 7,900 miles (12,700 kilometers) from the planet.

Southern lights

This infrared image gives an unprecedented view of the southern aurora of Jupiter, as captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on August 27, 2016. 

The planet's southern aurora can hardly be seen from Earth due to our home planet's position in respect to Jupiter's south pole. Juno's unique polar orbit provides the first opportunity to observe this region of the gas-giant planet in detail.

Jupiter's aurora

Jupiter's X-ray emission is shown in magenta and white, for the brightest spot, overlaid on a Hubble Space Telescope optical image.

Views of Io

Auroras on Jupiter's moon Io, revealed by the Galileo spacecraft, shine around its equator, thanks to interactions with Jupiter. Charged particles colliding within the atmosphere produce the red-and-green glow, while blue light comes from the volcanic plumes.

Volcano on Io

A volcanic plume ejects gas and particles about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system.

Juno's approach

This artist's illustration shows NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, with its solar arrays and main antenna pointed toward the distant sun and Earth.

Building Juno

Assembly began April 1, 2010, for NASA's Juno spacecraft in the high-bay cleanroom at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo. In this picture, workers are readying the spacecraft's propulsion module.

Juno in launch complex

At Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41, the Juno spacecraft, enclosed in an Atlas payload fairing, was transferred into the Vertical Integration Facility where it was positioned on top of the Atlas rocket stacked inside.  

Juno launched on Aug. 5, 2011.

Storms

Jupiter's stormy southern hemisphere as viewed by NASA's Juno spacecraft, released March 22, 2019. The image was produced using color views of images taken as Juno passed between 16,700 and 59,300 miles above Jupiter's cloud tops.