Jupiter's north is filled with chaotic clouds and cyclonic storms. See photo

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NASA's Juno spacecraft has given us several memorable views of Jupiter and its moons, especially Lo. Now, in another stunning piece of imagery, Juno has sent back photos of the giant planet's chaotic northern hemisphere. The colour-enhanced photo shows clouds and cyclonic storms in the folded filamentary region of the planet. 

This region of Jupiter displays turbulent patterns due to the zonal jets breaking down. These zonal jets are responsible for the creation of banded patterns in Jupiter's clouds. This also results in cloud structures that rapidly evolve over the course of only a few days.

This photo was captured by Juno during its 61st close flyby of Jupiter on May 12, 2024. It was captured by Juno from a distance of about 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometres) above Jupiter's cloud tops. 

In order to give the photo more clarity and detail, citizen scientist Gary Eason adopted a couple of techniques. He used raw data from the JunoCam instrument and applied digital processing techniques to enhance the colour and clarity of the photo.

Lava lakes and volcanoes on Jupiter's moon lo

Juno has been responsible for enlightening us about not only Jupiter but also its moons. Lo is one of the most prominent moons of the biggest planet of our solar system. During a planned flyby near Lo in April this year, Juno captured some mind-blowing images of the moon bursting with volcanoes. 

The rocky moon is the "most volcanically active world in the solar system, with hundreds of volcanoes, some erupting lava fountains dozens of miles (or kilometres) high," as per NASA. 

Also Read: NASA's Juno spacecraft spots glass-smooth lava lake and a mountain on a moon

In the same month, Juno sent back photos of a "potential magma lake rimmed with hot lava" on Lo. You can also see a mountain and an island amidst the lava lake.

"The specular reflection our instruments recorded of the lake suggests parts of Io’s surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanically created obsidian glass on Earth," Scott Bolton, the principal investigator of the Juno mission at the European Geophysical Union’s General Assembly said.

Juno undertook two flybys of Jupiter’s moon in December last year and then in February 2024. It clicked pictures of flowing volcanoes from a distance of 930 miles (approx. 1500 kilometres) of the moon’s surface.

Earlier this year, it also spotted the elusive fifth moon of Jupiter, known as Amalthea. Amalthea is Jupiter's fifth largest moon of the 95 known moons. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are the four largest moons of Jupiter.