Spectacular images show glowing Jupiter

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Spectacular Images Show Glowing Jupiter Just Days Prior to Juno's Arrival
Spectacular Images Show Glowing Jupiter Just Days Prior to Juno's Arrival

NASA's Juno spacecraft is expected to reach Jupiter soon, on July 4, after nearly 5 years in transit, reports The Independent.

In advance of its arrival, researchers at the University of Leicester in the U.K. have captured high-resolution infrared images of the planet.

According to a press release by the European Southern Observatory, or ESO, one of the images shows Jupiter's "turbulent atmosphere, rippling with cooler gas clouds."

Such views are typically difficult to achieve because both Earth and Jupiter have fluctuating atmospheres, but the team was able to attain them with the ESO's Very Large Telescope through a series of "very short exposures."

Once Juno reaches Jupiter, it will spend about 1.5 years collecting data related to its terrain, atmospheric water content, and gravitational and magnetic fields.

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