12.21.21

Jupiter With Io and Callisto

A composite image of Jupiter with moons Io and Callisto
Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Image processing: Brian Swift CC BY

The main image and the inset image were taken by the JunoCam imager a few hours before its closest approach to Jupiter on its 38th perijove pass, on Nov. 29, 2021, during an encounter with the Jovian moon Io. After snapping a series of Io images, JunoCam acquired this picture of Jupiter and Io together. Much fainter and more distant is Jupiter's moon Callisto, barely visible below and to the right of Io.

The original JunoCam image used to produce this view was taken from an altitude of 15,404 miles (24,791 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops near its north pole. At the time, Io was at a distance of 270,648 miles (435,567 kilometers), and Callisto was almost 1.2 million miles (2 million kilometers).

Citizen scientist Brian Swift processed the main image and inset to enhance the color and contrast.

JunoCam's raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing

More information about NASA citizen science can be found at https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience and https://www.nasa.gov/solve/opportunities/citizenscience.