New Delhi: After successfully looping in Jupiter's orbit on July 4, NASA's Juno spacecraft has shot back the first in-orbit view around the largest planet of the solar system.
The JunoCam aboard the Juno mission is now operational and is now sending data back to Earth for research.
The first view, obtained on July 10, was captured when the spacecraft was 4.3 million kilometers from Jupiter on the outbound leg of its initial 53.5-day capture orbit and shows the atmospheric features on Jupiter. It also shows the famous Great Red Spot, and three of the massive planet's four largest moons - Io, Europa and Ganymede, from left to right in the image.
Candy Hansen, Juno co-investigator from the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona, said, "JunoCam will continue to take images as we go around in this first orbit," adding that the first high-resolution images of the planet will be taken on August 27 when Juno makes its next close pass to Jupiter."
The JunoCam is a colour, visible-light camera that has been especially designed to capture the pictures of Jupiter's poles and cloud tops. It will provide a wide view of the planet and the images will prove useful for both public engagement and scientific research.
During its mission, the spacecraft will circle the planet 37 times and try to fly as low as about 4,100 kilometers over the planet's cloud tops. It will probe the atmosphere and study its auroras to learn more about the planet's origin and structure.
The Juno team is currently working to place all images taken by JunoCam on the mission's website, where the public can access them.
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