Juno Shows What's Going On Beneath Jupiter's Clouds

This infrared 3-D image of Jupiter's north pole was derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM )

Jupiter may be one of the most recognizable sights in the solar system, but it still manages to surprise us. (And not just the everyday folks unfamiliar with its nighttime

appearances.)

With NASA’s Juno probe in orbit around the gas giant, we’re seeing a new side to the planet, answering some questions but raising others. The latest

came out last week at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, where researchers showed off twisty patterns of the north pole, the latest on Jupiter’s interior and the first ever view of an off-world’s magnetic field generator. As the probe has, let’s dive in!

The most dramatic findings may be Juno’s views of the north pole of Jupiter. Because it used infrared ...