NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured the image on Feb. 17, 2020 and sent it back nearly 500 million miles for us to marvel at.
At the time of the picture the spacecraft was around 15,000 miles from the cloud tops.
— gortex
Knight of Ni
Some notable features in this view are the long, thin bands that run through the center of the image from top to bottom. Juno has observed these long streaks since its first close pass by Jupiter in 2016. The streaks are layers of haze particles that float above the underlying cloud features. Scientists don’t yet know exactly what these hazes are made of or how they form. Two jet streams in Jupiter’s atmosphere flank either side of the region where the narrow bands of haze typically appear, and some researchers speculate those jet streams may influence the formation of the high hazes.
www.nasa.gov…
The streaks are layers of haze particles that float above the underlying cloud features. Scientists don’t yet know exactly what these hazes are made of or how they form.
For me the most intriguing part of the picture are the streaks that form in the upper atmosphere , it has been theorised that life could exist in the cloud layers of Jupiter feeding on the chemicals in the cloud layers and gaining access to precious Sunlight , perhaps the streaks are something akin to algal bloom seen in Earths oceans , it could be the streaks are our first look at Jovian life.
Just a thought.
— gortex
Knight of Ni
Lovely.