Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Ganymede's Shadow

stsci_2014-31a October 28th, 2014

Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) Acknowledgment: C. Go and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Hubble treats astronomers to gorgeous close-up views of the eerie outer planets. But it's a bit of a trick when it seems like the planet's looking back at you! This happened on April 21, 2014, when Hubble was being used to monitor changes in Jupiter's immense Great Red Spot (GRS) storm. During the exposures, the shadow of the Jovian moon Ganymede swept across the center of the GRS. This gave the giant planet the uncanny appearance of having a pupil in the center of a 10,000-mile-diameter"eye." Momentarily, Jupiter took on the appearance of a Cyclops planet!

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2014/news-2014-31

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/

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Image Details

Image Type: Observation
Object Name: Jupiter
Subject - Solar System: Planet > Type > Gas Giant

Position Details

Position (ICRS): RA = 0h 27m 54.8s; DEC = 23° 2’ 43.0”
Constellation: Andromeda

Color Mapping

	Telescope	Spectral Band	Wavelength
	Hubble (WFC3/UVIS)	Optical	502.0 nm

ID: 2014-31a
Subject Category: A.1.1.2
Subject Name: Jupiter
Credits: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) Acknowledgment: C. Go and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Release Date: 2014-10-28T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2014/news-2014-31

Type: Observation
Image Quality: Good
Distance Notes

Facility: Hubble
Instrument: WFC3/UVIS
Color Assignment: Grayscale

Band: Optical
Bandpass
Central Wavelength: 502

Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes

Coordinate Frame: ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value: 6.9782428, 23.0452694
Reference Dimension

Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:

Quality: Position
FITS Header
Notes

Creator (Curator): STScI
URL: http://hubblesite.org
Name: Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email: outreach@stsci.edu

Telephone: 410-338-4444
Address: 3700 San Martin Drive
City: Baltimore
State/Province: MD

Postal Code: 21218
Country: USA
Rights: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/

Publisher: STScI
Publisher ID: stsci
Resource ID: STSCI-H-p1431a-f-733x489.tif

Resource URL: https://mast.stsci.edu/api/latest/Download/file?uri=mast:OPO/product/STSCI-H-p1431a-f-733x489.tif
Related Resources: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/31

Metadata Date: 2022-07-06T00:00:00
Metadata Version: 1.2

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

There is no distance meta data in this image.