PDS logoPlanetary Data System
PDS Information
Find a Node - Use these links to navigate to any of the 8 publicly accessible PDS Nodes.

This bar indicates that you are within the PDS enterprise which includes 6 science discipline nodes and 2 support nodes which are overseen by the Project Management Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Each node is led by an expert in the subject discipline, supported by an advisory group of other practitioners of that discipline, and subject to selection and approval under a regular NASA Research Announcement.
Click here to return to the Photojournal Home Page Click here to view a list of Photojournal Image Galleries Photojournal_inner_header
Latest Images  |  Spacecraft & Technology  |  Animations  |  Space Images App  |  Feedback  |  Photojournal Search  

PIA24302: Jovian Flashes Close Up
This composite image from NASA's Juno mission shows small lightning flashes observed on Jupiter's cloud tops.
 Target Name:  Jupiter
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Juno 
 Spacecraft:  Juno
 Instrument:  SRU 
 Product Size:  892 x 882 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  SwRI 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA24302.tif (1.168 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA24302.jpg (121.3 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:

In this composite image taken by Juno's Stellar Reference Unit, the arrows point to small lightning flashes observed on Jupiter's cloud tops; the magnified insets show how they appeared in the science imager. The small size is evidence that the lighting is shallow, originating at unexpectedly high altitudes where it is too cold for liquid water to exist. Designed to detect dim stars, the Stellar Reference Unit's optics enable identification of tiny points of light. The data for this composite was taken by the Stellar Reference Unit on Feb. 7, 2018.

The solar-powered Jupiter explorer launched on Aug. 5, 2011 and went into orbit around the gas giant on July 4, 2016.

More information about Juno is at http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI

Image Addition Date:
2020-12-11