Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/14/13 - Close Encounters of the Moon Kind

As Jupiter danced with the Moon on July 15 of last year, European observers had the spectacular chance to watch Jupiter pass behind the lunar disk. Cristian Fattinnanzi managed to capture this beautiful picture -- taken through light cloud cover over Montecassiano, Italy -- as the gas giant reemerged (with its four Galilean moons in tow).

The Galilean moons are names as such because Galileo discovered them while making his observations of our largest planet. The moons, pictured left to right, are Callisto, Ganymede, Io, and Europa; with Jupiter as the centerpiece.

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-121413-close-encounters-of-the-moon-kind/

Photo credit: Cristian Fattinnanzi

Drops of Jupiter

Earth is quite picturesque from a few thousand miles away. It is equipped with beautiful hues of green that are spread between large gaps of rolling seas of blue, and of course, there are large collections of fluffy white clouds that dance across the face of the planet. The images taken from this vantage point remind us that Earth is quite stunning. Out of the rest of the planets in our solar system, only one other planet (Jupiter) has the variety of colors that we are accustomed to seeing when viewing space-based images of our home planet. In all other cases, the bland, colorless worlds are a stark reminder that our planet is very much alive. Ultimately, Earth"s colors signify its abundance of life. However, in Jupiter"s atmosphere, the intense colors signify something entirely different...



So what do these colors mean? How does Jupiter stack up against our own planet?

To read the full article, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/drops-of-jupiter/