HUBBLE ATLAS

Solar System

Jupiter rotation (OPAL January 2024)

March 14, 2024 · ESA/Hubble

Original on ESA/Hubble ↗

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images used in this animated science visualisation present a full rotation of the giant planet Jupiter. This is not a real-time movie. Instead, Hubble snapshots of the colourful planet, taken on 5–6 January 2024, have been photo-mapped onto a sphere, and the model is then rotated in animation. The planet's real rotation rate is nearly 10 hours, which is easily plotted by watching the Great Red Spot come and go with each completed rotation. Hubble monitors Jupiter and the other outer Solar System planets every year under the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy programme (OPAL).