Hubble image archive

Full-Disk Jupiter (WFPC3/UVIS, April 21, 2014)

Date: Jan 1, 2014
Mission: Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID: hubblesite-images-2014-31-3387-image

By Kakha Giorgashvili January 1, 2014

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! The shadows from Jupiter's four major satellites routinely cross the face of Jupiter. This picture was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.

Credits

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

Image Details

About The Object
Object Name	Jupiter
Object Description	Planet
Distance	The semi-major axis of Jupiter's orbit about the Sun is 5.2 astronomical units (483 million miles or 778 million km).
Dimensions	Jupiter has a diameter of roughly 88,789 miles (142,984 km) at the equator.
About The Data
Data Description	The image was created from Hubble data from proposal : PI: A. Simon (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), G. Orton (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), J. Rogers (University of Cambridge, UK), and M. Wong and I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley).
Instrument	HST>WFPC3/UVIS
Exposure Dates	April 21, 2014
Filters	395nm, 502nm, and 631nm