Citizen science contributes to imaging Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere

JunoCam, the visible light imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, captured this view of Jupiter’s northern high latitudes during the spacecraft’s 69th flyby of the giant planet on Jan. 28, 2025. Jupiter’s belts and zones stand out in this enhanced color rendition, along with the turbulence along their edges caused by winds going in different directions.

The original JunoCam data used to produce this view was taken from an altitude of about 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops. JunoCam’s raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products. Citizen scientist Jackie Branc processed the image.

Since Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016, it has been probing beneath the dense, forbidding clouds encircling the giant planet—the first orbiter to peer so closely. It seeks answers to questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, our solar system, and giant planets across the cosmos.