Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2021

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is 40 times deeper than Mariana Trench

On Jupiter, a storm's been brewing for more than 300 years. Known as the Great Red Spot, this swirling high-pressure region is clearly visible from space, spanning a region in Jupiter's atmosphere more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) wide — about one and a quarter times the diameter of Earth....

Mar 26, 2022

NASA spacecraft snaps gorgeous new photo of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa

NASA's Juno spacecraft beamed back stunning new photos of Jupiter's moons, Io and Europa. Juno's latest view of the two moons was captured during the spacecraft's 39th close flyby of Jupiter on Jan. 12. At the time, the spacecraft was about 38,000 miles (61,000 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops, at...

Apr 5, 2022

'Dead' telescope discovers Jupiter's twin from beyond the grave

NASA's Kepler space telescope has spotted a Jupiter look-alike in a new discovery, even though the instrument stopped operations four years ago. An international team of astrophysicists using NASA's Kepler space telescope, which ceased operations in 2018, have discovered an exoplanet similar to Jupiter located 17,000 light-years from Earth, making...

Apr 11, 2022

'Baby Jupiter' discovered in the process of forming around a star 500 light-years away

How do planets form? For many years scientists thought they understood this process by studying the one example we had access to: our own solar system. However, the discovery of planets around distant stars in the 1990s made it clear that the picture was much more complicated than we knew....

May 14, 2022

Jupiter: Facts about the king of the planets

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. The gas giant features beautiful banded cloud layers; a set of thin, dusty rings; the famous Great Red Spot; and dozens of varied moons. How did Jupiter get its name?As the fourth-brightest object in...

Jun 16, 2022

Scientists find remains of cannibalized baby planets in Jupiter's cloud-covered belly

Jupiter's innards are full of the remains of baby planets that the gas giant gobbled up as it expanded to become the behemoth we see today, scientists have found. The findings come from the first clear view of the chemistry beneath the planet's cloudy outer atmosphere. Despite being the largest...

Jul 15, 2022

'Bonus' Webb Telescope images showcase Jupiter's Great Red Spot, rings, moons and more

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope keeps showing us what it can do. On Tuesday (July 12), the James Webb Space Telescope team unveiled the mission's first science-quality images, a handful of amazingly detailed shots of the deep and distant universe. And Thursday (July 14), the team released some tantalizing photos...

Aug 22, 2022

Jupiter glows in stunning new James Webb telescope images

Jupiter glows with polar lights and shimmering clouds in new imagery from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). NASA released the sharp new pictures Monday (Aug. 22). The images are composites from several different wavelengths of light. In some of the new images, two of the planet's moons, Amalthea and...

Sep 4, 2022

Jupiter's unearthly beauty revealed in gorgeous true-color image from Juno flyby

A new image captured by NASA's Juno Jupiter explorer reveals features in the turbulent atmosphere of the solar system's largest planet in the same colors a human observer would see them. Juno took the image on July 5, 2022, during its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter using its JunoCam instrument....

Sep 26, 2022

Jupiter will be at its closest to Earth today (Sept. 26) in 59 years

Jupiter will be directly opposite the sun as seen from Earth on Monday (Sept. 26), allowing skywatchers to see the solar system's largest planet in incredible detail during an event known as opposition. During the opposition Jupiter, Earth, and the sun are aligned in such a way that both planets...

Feb 7, 2023

Jupiter officially has the most moons in the solar system, discovery of 12 new satellites confirms

Jupiter was already the king of the solar system, and new discoveries give the massive planet another way to reign supreme: It now has the most moons. Twelve new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter have been confirmed, bumping the count from 80 to 92, and knocking Saturn — which has 83...

Sep 22, 2023

James Webb telescope finds potential signature of life on Jupiter's icy moon Europa

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed homemade carbon dioxide on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, raising the possibility that the frigid waterworld could host life. Europa, which is a little bit smaller than Earth's moon, is covered with a crust of water ice enveloping a saltwater ocean. The presence...

Oct 22, 2023

Space photo of the week: Jupiter's seething volcano moon gets a close-up

What it is: Io, Jupiter's third-largest moon When it was taken: Oct. 15, 2023 Where it is: 262,000 miles (422,000 kilometers) from Jupiter Why it's so special: This photo, taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft, is the highest-resolution image taken of the most volcanic world in the solar system in 22...

Oct 23, 2023

James Webb telescope spots enormous jet stream faster than a Category 5 hurricane on Jupiter

Though NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was initially touted as having the power to unveil our universe's furthest horizons — and it surely has — some of the observatory's most gorgeous images are actually ones of our very own solar system. With its gold-plated hive of mirrors and backpack...

Oct 28, 2023

Eerie 'face' haunts Jupiter in creepy photo from NASA's Juno probe

A creepy face has appeared on Jupiter's surface just in time for Halloween, and NASA has the photo to prove it. On Sept. 7, the space agency's Juno spacecraft captured the spooky image during its 54th close flyby of Jupiter's northern regions, also known as Jet N7, according to a...