Ganymede casts a large, dark shadow on Jupiter as NASA’s Juno spacecraft makes its 40th close pass by the gas giant on Feb. 25, 2022. Scientist Thomas Thomopoulos used raw data from the JunoCam instrument to create this enhanced-color image. The raw image was photographed by the Juno spacecraft approximately 44,000 miles (71,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops, at a latitude of about 55° south.
If one were to observe this phenomenon from Jupiter’s cloud tops within the oval shadow, you would experience a total eclipse of the Sun. Believe it or not, total eclipses are more common on Jupiter than here on Earth, mainly due to the former having four major moons (Galilean satellites) that often pass between the gas giant and the Sun. NASA’s Juno spacecraft would require some serious upgrades to be able to dive into Jupiter safely.
- Bring to life the rocket launch that took humans to the moon with the meter-high (approximately 1: 110 scale) model rocket of the NASA Apollo Saturn V
- The Saturn V rocket kit includes 3 removable rocket stages (first, s-ii second, and s-ivb third) below the launch escape system, command and service...
- After building the Saturn V rocket, you can display the spacecraft horizontally with 3 stands; The Lunar Lander docks with the command and service...
JunoCam captured this image from very close to Jupiter, making Ganymede’s shadow appear especially large. Figure B, created by citizen scientist Brian Swift using JunoCam data, illustrates the approximate geometry of the visible area, projected onto a globe of Jupiter,” said NASA.
