Planetary oddball Uranus rolls on its side around the Sun as it follows an 84-year orbit, rather than spinning in a more-vertical position as Earth does. (This image is smaller in size because Jupiter was 81,000 miles farther from Earth when the photo was taken). It is a cratered world with a mainly water-ice surface with apparent glacial flows driven by internal heat. Slightly larger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. Jupiter's icy moon Ganymede can be seen transiting the giant planet at lower right. 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 legendary Great Red Spot takes center stage in this view. This image was taken on November 12, 2022.

Sulfur takes on various hues at different temperatures, which is why Io's surface is so colorful. The moon's molten interior is overlaid by a thin crust through which the volcanoes eject material. These volcanoes were first discovered when the Voyager 1 spacecraft flew by in 1979. Hubble's resolution is so sharp that it can see Io's mottled-orange appearance, related to its numerous active volcanoes. The orange moon Io photobombs this view of Jupiter's multicolored cloud tops, casting a shadow toward the planet's western limb. Strong color differences indicate that Hubble is seeing different cloud heights and depths as well. 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. The staggered pattern of anticyclones and cyclones prevents individual storms from merging. If the storms get close enough to each other, in the very unlikely event of a merger, they could build an even larger storm, potentially rivaling the current size of the Great Red Spot. This is a wave pattern of nested anticyclones and cyclones, locked together like in a machine with alternating gears moving clockwise and counterclockwise. A prominent string of alternating storms is visible, forming a 'vortex street' as some planetary astronomers call it. The forecast for Jupiter is stormy weather at low northern latitudes. Inaugurated in 2014, the telescope's Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy ( OPAL) Program has been providing us with yearly views of the giant planets. In this way Hubble complements observations from other spacecraft such as Juno, currently orbiting Jupiter the retired Cassini mission to Saturn, and the Voyager 1 and 2 probes, which collectively flew by all four giant planets between 19. 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 a kaleidoscope of complex activities over time.

Four Successful Women Behind the Hubble Space Telescope's AchievementsĮver since its launch in 1990, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been an interplanetary weather observer, keeping an eye on the largely gaseous outer planets and their ever-changing atmospheres.

Characterizing Planets Around Other Stars.Measuring the Universe's Expansion Rate.

Io moon mass