Jupiter's atmosphere with two cameras

2010/03/18 Lakar Iraizoz, Oihane - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

The images taken by the Great Telescope of Chile have detected the swirls of air masses at different temperatures in the atmosphere of Jupiter. In fact, this telescope collects the waves of the infrared field and, according to the researchers of the Southern European Observatory, swirls formed by air masses with a temperature difference of four degrees are observed. In the image above, the lighter colored areas are the hottest air.

All the air is at very low temperatures, about -160 °C, but the difference of four degrees between each other is enough to form whirlpools. In the image below you can see a picture of the same field with a camera that the Hubble Space Telescope detects visible light. The masses seen in the image of infrared waves are masses of white, red and brown.

Photos: Photos NASA/JPL/ESO and NASA/ESA/GSFC