NASA's Juno spacecraft has spotted the elusive fifth moon of Jupiter transiting the giant planet's Great Red Spot, giving astronomers a rare view of this small but intriguing natural satellite.
NASA's Juno spacecraft has spotted the elusive fifth moon of Jupiter transiting the giant planet's Great Red Spot, giving astronomers a rare view of this small but intriguing natural satellite.
Juno spotted Amalthea as a tiny black speck set first against one of Jupiter's ruddy, dark cloud belts and then transiting the Great Red Spot itself. The scale is incredible; the Great Red Spot is a vast anticyclonic storm that's currently 7,767 miles across, while tiny Amalthea is pictured 112,500 miles above Jupiter's cloud tops.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Close-up images of Amalthea by NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes and the Galileo spacecraft show several bright spots and craters on the small moon, as well as how mysteriously red its surface is. In fact, Amalthea is the reddest body in the solar system.
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