Photographic Astronomer David Malin has been working with us on a new exhibition From Earth to the Universe that features some amazing photographic images showcasing the beauty and mystery of our Universe and we are going to share some of them with you on Photo of the Day. Here is David’s first post:
Three years after its 1997 launch, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft flew close to the giant planet Jupiter, using its gravity to slingshot it towards Saturn, where it arrived in July 2004.
During its brief flyby, Cassini made a series of detailed pictures of Jupiter’s atmosphere, including regions close to the planet’s poles that have not been seen clearly before. They show Jupiter’s enormous Red Spot, a long-lived cyclonic storm many times bigger than the earth, and the distinctive colour banding of its swirling clouds. The colours are mainly due to small amounts of ammonia ice hydrocarbons and sulphur compounds, swept along in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Post by David Malin, From Earth to the Universe team.
