The Juno space probe took this amazing shot of Jupiter during a flyby
Two of its most interesting moons are also in the picture.
NASA’s spacecraft Juno has taken an astonishing picture of Jupiter and two of its largest moons.
The photo was snapped on September 1 during the probe’s eighth flyby of Jupiter, and shows two of its biggest moons – Io on the right and Europa to the left.
These moons were first spotted orbiting Jupiter by Galileo in 1610, and this observation helped him discover that the Earth orbits the sun rather than vice versa.
Now Juno’s camera has captured the celestial pair from its position just 17,000 miles from the planet.
Europa is slightly smaller, and quite different.
NASA thinks it might have a composition similar to Earth’s with a metal core, rocky mantle and salty ocean completely covered in ice.
Jupiter is of particular interest to scientists as it is the solar system’s largest planet and was probably the first to form.
Jupiter’s hydrogen and helium atmosphere is similar to the makeup of the sun, and studying the gas giant could tell us more about the early years of the solar system.
