Jupiter’s Deepening Colors

This view of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet's trademark Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds than seen in previous years. The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter's atmosphere. Jupiter's bands are created by differences in the thickness and height of the ammonia ice clouds. The colorful bands, which flow in opposite directions at various latitudes, result from different atmospheric pressures. Lighter bands rise higher and have thicker clouds than the darker bands. Among the most striking features in the image are the rich colors of the clouds moving toward the Great Red Spot, a storm rolling counterclockwise between two bands of clouds. The swirling filaments seen around the outer edge of the red super storm are high-altitude clouds that are being pulled in and around it. The worm-shaped feature located below the Great Red Spot is a cyclone, a vortex around a low-pressure area with winds spinning in the opposite direction from the Red Spot. The two white oval-shaped features are anticyclones, like small versions of the Great Red Spot. The bright orange color of the wide band at the equator may be a sign that deeper clouds are starting to clear out, emphasizing red particles in the overlying haze.