Jupiter

Click on image for larger version.

The Big One. About twelve times the diameter of Earth, Jupiter is the most massive planet in the solar system. Its atmosphere (and it has a lot of atmosphere) is mostly hydrogen and helium, giving it the chemical composition of a star. If it was a hundred times more massive, it would be a star, and you would live in a binary system!

All of the features you see on Jupiter are clouds and storms. The biggest storm, the Great Red Spot, is on the other side of Jupiter in this image. But with an eleven hour day, it only takes a few hours for anything, including the Spot, to rotate back into view.

Jupiter orbits the Sun five times further out than Earth, and it is one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

Equipment

Meade 16in LX200 telescope operating at f/20
SBIG ST8E CCD camera with color filter wheel

R G B color production was used to create this image.

Red = .11 seconds binned 1x1
 Green = .11 seconds binned 1x1
 Blue = .2 seconds binned 1x1

  • Maximum Entropy sharpening routine (via Maxim/DL) was performed on each color component.
  • Unsharp mask was applied to the final color image.
  • The bottom image shows both the Great Red Spot and a moon in transit!

    • Minimum credit line: (top image) Michael Stegina/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
    (bottom image) Grace and Harry Parks/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 8/20/2000