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Jupiter OPAL 2024
This 12-panel series of Hubble Space Telescope images, taken January 5-6, 2024, presents snapshots of a full rotation of the giant planet Jupiter. The Great Red Spot can be used to measure the planet's real rotation rate of nearly 10 hours. The innermost Galilean satellite, Io is seen in several frames, along with its shadow crossing over Jupiter's cloud tops. Hubble monitors Jupiter and the other outer solar system planets every year under the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy program (OPAL).
About the Object
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.On January 5th and 6th, 2024 Jupiter was 4.56 AU from Earth (about 424 million miles or 682 million km)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The HST observations include those from program 16995 (A. Simon). Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
- InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.Jan. 5-6, 2024
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F395N, F502N, F658N
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Jupiter
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Planet
- Release DateMarch 14, 2024
- Science ReleaseHubble Tracks Jupiter’s Stormy Weather
- CreditsNASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
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These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample medium wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F395N, Green: F502N, Red: F658N
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Jupiter Compass Image
A side-by-side image titled "Jupiter HST/WFC3/UVIS," shows opposite faces of Jupiter on the black background of space. Below the title is a color key with the filters and colors used to create the images – "F395N" blue; "F502N" green, and "F631N" red. Centered at the bottom is...

OPAL 2024 Jupiter Rotation
The Hubble Space Telescope images used in this animated science visualization present a full rotation of the giant planet Jupiter. This is not a real-time movie. Instead, Hubble snapshots of the colorful planet, taken January 5-6, 2024, have been photo-mapped onto a sphere, and...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov