Europa and Jupiter viewed from Voyager 1

Europa and Jupiter viewed from Voyager 1

 

Those spots on Jupiter? Largest and furthest, just right of center, is the Great Red Spot — a huge storm system that has been raging on Jupiter possibly since Giovanni Cassini’s likely notation of it 352 years ago.

Europa and Jupiter viewed from Voyager 1

It is not yet known why this Great Spot is red. The spot toward the lower left is one of Jupiter’s largest moons: Europa.  Europa has an underground ocean and is therefore a good place to look for extraterrestrial life.

The dark spot on the upper right? That is a shadow of another of Jupiter’s large moons: Io. Voyager 1 discovered Io to be so volcanic that no impact craters could be found.

Sixteen frames from Voyager 1’s flyby of Jupiter in 1979 were recently reprocessed and merged to create the featured image seen above.

Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 1, JPL, Caltech; Processing & License: Alexis Tranchandon / Solaris

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