¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2020 November 23 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A Jupiter Vista from Juno Image Credit: [3]NASA/[4]JPL-Caltech/[5]SwRI/[6]MSSS; Processing & [7]License: [8]Kevin M. Gill; Explanation: Why do colorful cloud bands encircle Jupiter? [9]Jupiter's top atmospheric layer is [10]divided into light zones and dark belts that go [11]all the way around the giant planet. It is high horizontal winds -- in excess of 300 kilometers per hour -- that cause the zones to spread out planet-wide. What causes these strong winds remains a [12]topic of research. Replenished by upwelling gas, zonal bands are thought to include relatively opaque clouds of [13]ammonia and water that block light from lower and darker atmospheric levels. One light-colored zone is shown in great detail in the [14]featured vista taken by the robotic [15]Juno spacecraft in 2017. [16]Jupiter's atmosphere is mostly clear and colorless [17]hydrogen and helium, gases that are not thought to contribute to the gold and brown colors. What compounds create these colors is another active topic of research -- but is hypothesized to involve small amounts of sunlight-altered [18]sulfur and [19]carbon. Many discoveries have been made from Juno's data, including that [20]water composes an unexpectedly high 0.25 percent of upper-level cloud molecules near Jupiter's equator, a finding important not only for understanding [21]Jovian currents but for the history of water in the entire [22]Solar System. Tomorrow's picture: helical sky __________________________________________________________________ [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search | [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss | [33]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell ([37]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [38]Specific rights apply. [39]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2011/JupiterVista_JunoGill_3688.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ 5. https://www.swri.org/ 6. http://www.msss.com/ 7. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ 8. https://www.flickr.com/people/kevinmgill/ 9. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/jupiter/overview/ 10. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/multimedia/largest/atmosphere.html 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Jupiter#/media/File:PIA02863_-_Jupiter_surface_motion_animation.gif 12. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020JGRE..12506292D/abstract 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200811.html 14. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/48294907271/ 15. https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/spacecraft/ 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Jupiter 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200809.html 18. https://periodic.lanl.gov/16.shtml 19. https://periodic.lanl.gov/6.shtml 20. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/findings-from-nasas-juno-update-jupiter-water-mystery 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201019.html 22. https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/orrery/index.html#/home 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201122.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 32. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201123 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201124.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. http://www.mtu.edu/