NASA Releases First-Ever Close-Up Images of Jupiter's North Pole (npr.org)

NASA has released the first close-up images of Jupiter's north pole captured by the Juno spacecraft, taken during the probe's first flyby of the planet with its instruments switched on. "The images show storm systems and weather activity unlike anything previously seen on any of our solar system's gas-giant planets," writes Tony Greicius via NASA. NPR reports: "NASA also released an image of Jupiter's southern aurora, a unique view that could be captured only by a spacecraft close to Jupiter. The aurora occurs when energized particles from the sun interact with Jupiter's atmosphere near the planet's poles. The space agency also released audio of what the aurora sounds like if you convert it to a frequency the human ear can hear. The pictures and data were collected Aug. 27, when June made the first of some three dozen scheduled close encounters with Jupiter. At its closest approach, the spacecraft was a mere 2,500 miles above the planet's cloud tops." The images can be found here. You can also listen to Jupiter's auroras via YouTube. Spoiler: they sound like a dial-up modem.

Comments

Not a dial-up modem.

[Mal-2]

That really doesn't sound anything like a dial-up modem, but I think I know what it is.

It's just the newest Aphex Twin release.

Re:Not a dial-up modem.

[SweetDrake]

Actually this sounds like the tunes commonly used in every sci-fi show I used to watch in my childhood. You know... the kind that's supposed to thrill you with that great wonder vibe when scrolling through starry SPAAACE!!!

Re:Not Frist Probe

[hcs_$reboot]

Yeah, but at the time they knew how to make better pictures.

To all those wanting pretty pictures.

[wjcofkc]

I too have been hoping for stunning and terrifying up close images of Jupiter, however it comes as no surprise that they are not so incredible. They sent the probe into the harshest space environment in the solar system: the fierce radiation at the north pole of Jupiter. They sent the probe to do hard science, not send back inspiring photos - although we have eighteen months of mission left so we will see. A large part of the mission follows the mantra, "Get in and get the hell out". Which is to say before they lose the probe to radiation. The entirety of the mission is 18 months, so we will have to wait and see what follows.