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Neptune’s Southern Hemisphere
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Caption:
This photograph of Neptune's southern hemisphere was taken by the narrow-angle camera on NASA's Voyager 2 when the spacecraft was 4.2 million km (2.6 million miles) from the planet. The smallest features that can be seen are 38 km (24 miles) across. The almond-shaped structure at the left is a large cloud system that has been seen for several weeks. Internal details in the feature have become increasingly apparent as Voyager 2 has approached. Systems with similar shapes in Jupiter's atmosphere rotate about their centers, rolling in the local winds that increase toward the south. However, the wispy nature of the white central clouds in this Neptunian feature make confirmation of the system's rotation difficult.
Background Info:
The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Neptune | |
| System | Neptune | Jupiter |
| Target Type | Planet | |
| Mission | Voyager | |
| Instrument Host | Cassini Orbiter | Voyager 2 |
| Host Type | Orbiter | Flyby Spacecraft |
| Instrument | Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) | |
| Detector | Narrow Angle Camera | |
| Extra Keywords | Atmosphere, Color, Rotation, Visual | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 1996-01-29 | |
| Date in Caption | ||
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00050 | |
| Identifier | PIA00050 | |
