Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation: In infrared, Jupiter lights up the night. Recently, astronomers at the Gemini North Observatory in Hawaii , USA , created some of the best infrared photos of Jupiter ever taken from Earths surface, pictured . Gemini was able to produce such a clear image using a technique called lucky imaging , by taking many images and combining only the clearest ones that, by chance, were taken when Earth's atmosphere was the most calm . Jupiters jack-o-lantern -like appearance is caused by the planets different layers of clouds. Infrared light can pass through clouds better than visible light , allowing us to see deeper, hotter layers of Jupiter's atmosphere , while the thickest clouds appear dark. These pictures, together with ones from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Juno spacecraft , can tell us a lot about weather patterns on Jupiter, like where its massive, planet-sized storms form. Web designed by Simon G. Kupisz, 2020
