
Voyager 1 Image of Jupiter and two of its satellites (Io, left, and Europa). Io is about 350,000 kilometers (220,000 miles) above Jupiter's Great Red Spot; Europa is about 600,000 kilometers (375,000 miles) above Jupiter's clouds. Although both satellites have about the same brightness, Io's color is very different from Europa's. Io's equatorial region show two types of material -- dark orange, broken by several bright spots -- producing a mottled appearance. The poles are darker and reddish. Preliminary evidence suggests color variations within and between the polar regions. Io's surface composition is unknown, but scientists believe it may be a mixture of salts and sulfur. Erupoa is less strongly colored, although still relatively dark at short wavelengths. Markings on Eruopa are less evident that on the other satellites, although this picture shows darker regions toward the trailing half of the visible disk. Jupiter at this point is about 20 million kilometers (12.4 million miles) from the spacecraft. At this resolution (about 400 kimometers or 250 miles) there is evidence of circular motion in Jupiter's atmosphere. While the dominant large-scale motions are west-to-east, small-scale movement includes eddy-like circulation within and between the bands. (JPL ref: P-21082)
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NASA ID
ARC-1979-A79-0164-1
Date Created
February 13, 1979
Center
ARC
Media Type
image
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