Explanation:
South is toward the top in this frame from a stunning movie featuring
Jupiter and moons recorded last Thursday from the Central Coast
of New South Wales, Australia.
In fact, three jovian moons and
two red spots are ultimately seen in the full video as
they glide around
the solar system's ruling gas giant.
In the early frame above,
Ganymede,
the largest moon in the solar system, is
off the lower right limb of the planet, while intriguing
Europa
is visible against
Jupiter's cloud tops, also near the lower right.
Jupiter's new red spot junior
is just above the broad white band
in the planet's southern (upper) hemisphere.
In later frames, as planet and moons rotate (right to left), red spot junior
moves behind Jupiter's left edge while the
Great Red Spot
itself comes into view from the right.
Also finally erupting into view at the right, is Jupiter's
volcanic moon, Io.
To download the full 2 megabyte movie as an animated gif file, click
on the picture.
