Atmosphere of Jupiter facts for kids
The atmosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System. It is mostly made up of molecular hydrogen and helium. It is also made up of methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, water, nitrogen, sulfur, and noble gases.
Images for kids
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Zones, belts and vortices on Jupiter. The wide equatorial zone is visible in the center surrounded by two dark equatorial belts (SEB and NEB). The large grayish-blue irregular "hot spots" at the northern edge of the white Equatorial Zone change over the course of time as they march eastward across the planet. The Great Red Spot is at the southern margin of the SEB. Strings of small storms rotate around northern-hemisphere ovals. Small, very bright features, possible lightning storms, appear quickly and randomly in turbulent regions. The smallest features visible at the equator are about 600 kilometers across. This 14-frame animation spans 24 Jovian days, or about 10 Earth days. The passage of time is accelerated by a factor of 600,000. The occasional black spots in the image are moons of Jupiter getting into the field of view.
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New Horizons IR view of Jupiter's atmosphere
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Time-lapse sequence from the approach of Voyager 1 to Jupiter
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A narrower view of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot as seen from Voyager 1 in 1979
