NASA’S Juno spacecraft has spotted the “biggest dolphin in the solar system” after discovering some odd-shaped clouds on Jupiter.
NASA Juno spacecraft captures ‘giant DOLPHIN’ on clouds of Jupiter (Image: NASA)
While most dolphins are around eight foot long, this one spotted in the clouds of Jupiter is thousands of kilometres in length. The craft did not spot the ‘dolphin’, but was seen by amateur astronomers as Juno completed one of its astonishing close flybys of Jupiter. According to NASA, the images were curated by citizen scientists Brian Swift and Seán Doran, who were browsing through Juno’s archives.
The image was taken on October 29, when the spacecraft was just 11,400 miles from the gas giant’s cloudy exterior.
NASA said in a statement: “This series of images from NASA’s Juno spacecraft captures changing cloud formations across Jupiter’s southern hemisphere.
“A cloud in the shape of a dolphin appears to be swimming through the cloud bands along the South South Temperate Belt.
“This sequence of images was taken between 2:26 p.m. and 2:46 p.m. PDT (5:26 p.m. and 5:56 p.m. EDT) on Oct. 29, 2018, as the spacecraft performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter.”
All Jupiter pictures snapped by the Juno mission are readily available to browse through online.
NASA strongly encourages members of the public to download, enhance, process and share their takes on Juno’s photos.
Every once in a while, NASA’s team of scientists will select the most stunning processed picture they come across and share it with the world.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft launched towards Jupiter on August 5, 2011, and has so far logged 146 million miles of travel since entering Jupiter’s orbit.
