NASA has captured some stunning updated images of Jupiter

Located 1.7 billion kilometers from Earth

Juno's mission will end in September 2025

A fascinating planet

NASA recently released new images of Jupiter, transmitted back to Earth by the space agency's Juno probe. In orbit around the gas giant since July 2016, this space probe has been helping researchers better understand the planet and has deepened our knowledge of the gas giant.

Located 1.7 billion kilometers from Earth

NASA launched the Juno probe in 2011. After five years of travel and 1.7 billion kilometers traveled, the probe reached its destination and was able to begin its exploration mission.

Image: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / R. Ethington

A big gas giant planet

Being a gas planet, Jupiter is in perpetual motion, with violent winds that constantly change its appearance. This characteristic provides scientists and astronomy enthusiasts with new images every day.

Image: NASA

Amazing dimensions

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, with an impressive diameter of 139,822 km, eleven times that of Earth, and a colossal mass of 1.9 × 10²⁷ kg, equivalent to 318 times that of our planet, according to the Canadian Space Agency. These dimensions are all the more astonishing given that it is a gaseous planet.

Image: NASA

The composition of Jupiter

According to the Canadian Space Agency, Jupiter is a planet composed mainly of gas. Its atmosphere is made up of molecular hydrogen, helium and methane. In addition, scientists believe that Jupiter could have a rocky core, the size of Earth, but they have not yet been able to prove it.

Image: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt

A complete view of Jupiter

Thanks to the Juno probe, scientists now have a complete view of Jupiter and are able to observe it from every angle. "From its very first orbit, stretching across 53 days from Jupiter’s cloud tops to the frontiers of its magnetic field, Juno has upended our views of the gas giant and its surroundings.," NASA noted on its website about the gas giant.

Image: Katie Jolly CSUMB

Thousands of images

Since the start of its mission in July 2016, the Juno probe has sent thousands of high-resolution images. These allow us to observe Jupiter with unprecedented precision, as these images show.

Image: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Jackie Branc © cc by

Image processing

The Juno mission team makes its images available to the general public, including citizen scientists. These enthusiasts analyze each image and rework them into more creative and artistic versions.

Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson © cc nc sa

Strong winds

The Juno probe images reveal, in particular, exceptionally intense winds and storms, meteorological phenomena typical of Jupiter.

Image: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Jackie Branc © cc by

Winds at Jupiter's Great Red Spot

At the Great Red Spot, a gigantic anticyclone in the planet's atmosphere, winds can reach up to 700 km/h. At the poles, even more powerful winds, reaching 1,450 km/h, have been detected thanks to the Alma radio telescope network, under the direction of the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Important discoveries

According to NASA, the Juno spacecraft has made major advances, including "previously unseen networks of vast storms swirling around Jupiter’s poles" as well as active volcanos and lakes of lava on the gas giant's moon Io.

Image: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Thomas Thomopoulos © cc by

Juno's mission will end in September 2025

The Juno probe is now in the final phase of its mission, which will end in September 2025. Until then, we look forward to discovering new fascinating images of Jupiter!

Images: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt (left) // NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt (right)