First Photos Of Jupiter's Poles Captured By Juno

(Juno satellite stationed 48,000 miles above Jupiter's north pole; August 27)

That image is just one of the first of many to come from Juno, a NASA spacecraft that entered the gas giant’s orbit in July. It’s set to make at least 35 more revolutions around the planet from the north pole to the south, and in the process, hopefully unlock some of its mysteries.

It’s off to a good start. This first view of Jupiter’s north pole "looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before," Scott Bolton, NASA’s principal investigator of Juno, said in a press statement.

He continued:

It’s bluer in color up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms. There is no sign of the latitudinal bands or zone and belts that we are used to -- this image is hardly recognizable as Jupiter. We’re seeing signs that the clouds have shadows, possibly indicating that the clouds are at a higher altitude than other features.

Juno also sent back this infrared image of the planet’s south pole, another first for science. This image reveals the contours of Jupiter’s aurora, which is the interaction of its magnetic field with its atmosphere.

"These first infrared views of Jupiter’s north and south poles are revealing warm and hot spots that have never been seen before," Alberto Adriani, an Italian scientist studying data from Juno’s infrared camera, said in a press statement. "And while we knew that the first-ever infrared views of Jupiter's south pole could reveal the planet's southern aurora, we were amazed to see it for the first time."