A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2017-02-28 · NASA (public domain)

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A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno — APOD for 2017-02-28

This storm cloud on Jupiter is almost as large as the Earth. Known as a white oval , the swirling cloud is a high pressure system equivalent to an Earthly anticyclone . The cloud is one of a “ string of pearls ” ovals south of Jupiter 's famous Great Red Spot . Possibly, the Great Red Spot is just a really large white oval that turned red . Surrounding clouds show interesting turbulence as they flow around and past the oval . The featured image was captured on February 2 as NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno made a new pass just above the cloud tops of the Jovian world . Over the next few years, Juno will continue to orbit and probe Jupiter , determine atmospheric water abundance, and attempt to determine if Jupiter has a solid surface beneath its thick clouds.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2017-02-28 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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