Credit: SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley) IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Ever since its launch in 1990, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has been an interplanetary weather observer for keeping an eye on the largely gaseous outer planets, which all have ever-changing atmospheres. NASA spacecraft missions to the outer planets have given us a close-up look at these atmospheres, but Hubble’s sharpness and sensitivity keeps an unblinking eye on an ever-changing kaleidoscope of complex activities long after those missions have ended. Inaugurated in 2014, the telescope’s Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) Program has been providing us with yearly views of the giant planets. JUPITER

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The forecast for Jupiter is stormy weather at low northern latitudes. A prominent string of alternating storms is visible, forming a “vortex street” as some planetary astronomers call it. This is a wave pattern of nested anticyclones and cyclones, locked together like in a machine with alternating gears moving clockwise and counterclockwise.

This particular cycle is something that hasn’t been seen for many decades, say researchers. If the storms get close enough to each other and merge together, they could build an even larger storm, potentially rivaling the current size of the Great Red Spot. Activity is also seen interior to these storms; in the 1990s Hubble didn’t see any cyclones or anticyclones with built-in thunderstorms, but these storms have sprung up the last decade. Strong color differences indicate that Hubble is seeing different cloud heights and depths as well.

The orange moon Io photobombs this view of Jupiter’s multicolored cloud tops, casting a shadow toward the planet’s western limb. Hubble’s sharpness is so good it can see Io’s mottled-orange appearance that ties into its numerous active volcanoes. These were first discovered by the Voyager spacraft that flew by Jupiter in 1980. The moon’s molten interior of sulfur and rocky lava is overlaid by a thin crust through which the volcanoes eject material. Sulfur takes on various hues at different temperatures, which is why Io’s surface is so colorful. This photo was taken on November 12, 2022.

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Jupiter’s legendary Great Red Spot takes center stage in this view. Though this vortex is big enough to swallow Earth, it has actually shrunken to the smallest size it has ever been over observation records dating back 150 years. Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede can be seen transiting the giant planet at lower right. Slightly larger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. It is a cratered world with a mainly water-ice surface with apparent glacial flows driven by internal heat. (This image is smaller in size because Jupiter was 81,000 miles farther from Earth when the photo was taken). This photo was taken on January 6, 2023.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-007

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

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