Jupiter as you’ve never seen it. Thanks, Hubble!

Re-printed from NASA. Edits by EarthSky.

The NASA Hubble mission team released this cool image late in the day on November 2, 2023. It’s the giant planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths. The team said it released the image in honor of Jupiter’s opposition this week, which happens every year, as Earth sweeps between Jupiter and the sun, placing the planet opposite the sun in our sky. This view of the gas giant planet includes its iconic, massive storm called the Great Red Spot. To the human eye, the storm looks red. But this ultraviolet image shows it as darker, the scientists said, because high-altitude haze particles absorb light at these ultraviolet wavelengths.

The reddish, wavy polar hazes are absorbing slightly less of this light due to differences in either particle size, composition, or altitude.

The data used to create this ultraviolet image is part of a Hubble proposal that looked at Jupiter’s stealthy superstorm system. The researchers plan to map deep water clouds using the Hubble data to define 3D cloud structures in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Hubble has a long history of observing the outer planets. From the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts to studying Jupiter’s storms, Hubble’s decades-long career and unique vantage point provide astronomers with valuable data to chart the evolution of this dynamic planet.

Hubble’s ultraviolet-observing capabilities allow astronomers to study the short, high-energy wavelengths of light beyond what the human eye can see. Ultraviolet light reveals fascinating cosmic phenomena, including light from the hottest and youngest stars embedded in local galaxies; the composition, densities, and temperatures of the material between stars; and the evolution of galaxies.

This is a false-color image because the human eye cannot detect ultraviolet light. Therefore, colors in the visible light spectrum were assigned to the images, each taken with a different ultraviolet filter. In this case, the assigned colors for each filter are: Blue: F225W, Green: F275W, and Red: F343N.

Bottom line: The giant planet Jupiter reached opposition this week, coming closest to Earth for the year. In celebration, NASA released this ultraviolet view of Jupiter.

Via NASA