Hubble Spots Rare Triple Eclipse on Jupiter

Three Moons Cast Shadows on Jupiter

At first glance, Jupiter looks like it has a mild case of the measles. Five spots - one colored white, one blue, and three black - are scattered across the upper half of the planet. Closer inspection by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals that these spots are actually a rare...

Shadows Cast by Satellites

This illustration plots the positions of Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto on March 28, 2004, when the Hubble Space Telescope made the observations of the triple eclipse on Jupiter. The graphic shows the shadows cast on Jupiter by Io, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Annotated HST/NICMOS Image

In this image, the moons and shadows that crossed Jupiter's face are labeled. The Hubble Space Telescope captured the rare triple eclipse on March 28, 2004.

Jupiter Image Processing Technique

These six images demonstrate a new imaging technique, which allowed astronomers to make a sharper image of the triple eclipse on Jupiter. The Hubble Space Telescope took rapid-fire snapshots of Jupiter as it swung through the observatory's field of view. The top row of images...

Motion of Satellites and Shadows Across Jupiter

Animated movie of Jupiter with moons and shadows. This version is a full frame of Jupiter with the moons crossing.

Closeup of Satellites and Shadows Moving Across Jupiter

This animation was created based on the images taken during the event. While Hubble took 20 images during the event, the hundreds of images needed for the animation were created from the original images using the measured rotation of Jupiter and the motions of the satellites and...