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PIA00048: Neptune - Great Dark Spot and Scooter
 Target Name:  Neptune
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Voyager
 Spacecraft:  Voyager 2
 Instrument:  VG ISS - Narrow Angle
 Product Size:  1200 x 1297 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  P34632
 Addition Date:  1996-01-29
 Primary Data Set:  Voyager EDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA00048.tif (1.924 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA00048.jpg (55.04 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image of clouds in Neptune's atmosphere is the first that tests the accuracy of the weather forecast that was made eight days earlier to select targets for the Voyager narrow angle camera. Three of the four targeted features are visible in this photograph; all three are close to their predicted locations. The Great Dark Spot with its bright white companion is slightly to the left of center. The small bright Scooter is below and to the left, and the second dark spot with its bright core is below the Scooter. Strong eastward winds up to 400 mph cause the second dark spot to overtake and pass the larger one every five days. The spacecraft was 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the planet at the time of camera shuttering, and the images uses the orange, green and clear filters of the camera. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
1996-01-29