PIA01371: Voyager Picture of Jupiter


Voyager Picture of Jupiter

Caption:

NASA's Voyager 1 took this picture of the planet Jupiter on Saturday, Jan. 6, 1979, the first in its three-month-long, close-up investigation of the largest planet. The spacecraft, flying toward a March 5 closest approach, was 35.8 million miles (57.6 million kilometers) from Jupiter and 371.7 million miles (598.2 million kilometers) from Earth when the picture was taken. As the Voyager cameras begin their meteorological surveillance of Jupiter, they reveal a dynamic atmosphere with more convective structure than had previously been thought. While the smallest atmospheric features seen in this picture are still as large as 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) across, Voyager will be able to detect individual storm systems as small as 3 miles (5 kilometers) at closest approach. The Great Red Spot can be seen near the limb at the far right. Most of the other features are too small to be seen in terrestrial telescopes.

Background Info:

This picture was transmitted to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory through the Deep Space Network's tracking station at Madrid, Spain. The Voyager Project is managed for NASA by Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Jupiter
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Voyager Deep Space Network (DSN)
Instrument Host Cassini Orbiter Voyager 1, Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC)
Host Type Orbiter Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
Detector
Extra Keywords Atmosphere, Color, Radio, Storm
Acquisition Date
Release Date 1998-11-04
Date in Caption 1979-01-06
Image Credit NASA/JPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01371
Identifier PIA01371