Planetary Gallery

Jupiter and Io, New Horizons image

Jupiter and Io. Montage of images of Jupiter (left) and its moon Io (right), obtained by the New Horizons spacecraft in February and March 2007 as it passed Jupiter on its way to Pluto. The image of Jupiter was obtained with its infrared spectrometer (LEISA). The different colours show high-altitude clouds (blue), and deeper clouds (red). The Great Red Spot (lower left) is blue and white. The Io image was obtained in approximate true colour with a long-range camera (LORRI) and a multispectral camera (MVIC). The red dot on the nightside of Io is an eruption of the Tvashtar volcano. The volcanic plume (blue) seen above the eruption is 330 kilometres high. Jupiter is the solar system's largest planet

© NASA/JHU/APL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

North America at night, satellite image

Africa at night. Satellite image of the Earth at night, set against a background of stars, centred on the continent of Africa. North is at top. City lights (yellow) show areas of dense population. Most of Africa is dark in comparison with the bright lights of the cities of Europe and the Middle East (across top). Rural and undeveloped areas in Africa include the vast Sahara desert in the north, tropical forests in central Africa, and the savannah and deserts of eastern and southern Africa. City lights seen outside Africa and Europe include part of South America (lower left), India (upper right) and islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Image data obtained in 2001 by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)

© NASA/NOAA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Aurora over Antarctica, satellite image

Aurora over Antarctica, ultraviolet satellite image. Australia is at upper left. This is the aurora australis (green ring), the southern lights display. It is caused by interactions between charged particles from the Sun (the solar wind) and gas atoms and molecules about 100 kilometres above the Earth. On reaching Earth, the charged particles are drawn by Earth's magnetic field to the poles, where they collide with gas atoms and molecules, causing them to emit light. This display, on 11 September 2005, was caused by a large solar flare. The aurora image was obtained by NASA's IMAGE satellite, which carried out a five year study of Earth's magnetic field

© NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY