Jupiter

This image was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on February 13, 1995. The image provides a detailed look at a unique cluster of three white oval-shaped storms that lie southwest (below and to the left) of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The appearance of the clouds, in this image, is considerably different from their appearance only seven months earlier. These features are moving closer together as the Great Red Spot is carried westward by the prevailing winds while the white ovals are swept eastward.

The outer two of the white storms formed in the late 1930s. In the centers of these cloud systems the air is rising, carrying fresh ammonia gas upward. New, white ice crystals form when the upwelling gas freezes as it reaches the chilly cloud top level where temperatures are -130°C (-200°F). The intervening white storm center, the ropy structure to the left of the ovals, and the small brown spot have formed in low pressure cells. The white clouds sit above locations where gas is descending to lower, warmer regions.

Jupiter

This image was taken by the Wide Field/Planetary Camera of the Hubble Telescope. It is a true color composite of the full disk of Jupiter. All features in this image are cloud formations in the Jovian atmosphere, which contain small crystals of frozen ammonia and traces of colorful compounds of carbon, sulfur and phosphorous. This photograph was taken on May 28, 1991. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)

Nordic Optical Telescope

This image of Jupiter was taken with the 2.6 meter Nordic Optical Telescope, located at La Palma, Canary Islands. It is a good example of the best imagery that can be obtained from earth based telescopes. (c) Nordic Optical Telescope Scientific Association (NOTSA).