Planetary Picture of the Day
Week of June 12, 2023
Boulders on Mars, Jupiter in infrared, and the center of the Milky Way in near-infrared.
Monday, June 12, 2023
The Center of the Milky Way*
The central parts of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, as observed in the near-infrared with the NACO instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. By following the motions of the most central stars over more than 16 years, astronomers were able to determine the mass of the supermassive black hole that lurks there.
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Showcasing Jupiter's Aurorae
In a wide-field view, JWST sees Jupiter with its faint rings, which are a million times fainter than the planet, and two tiny moons called Amalthea and Adrastea. The fuzzy spots in the lower background are likely galaxies “photobombing” this Jovian view.
JWST NIRCam composite image of Jupiter from three filters – F360M (red), F212N (yellow-green), and F150W2 (cyan) – and alignment due to the planet’s rotation.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Boulders on Mars
Here is a great image from NASA's Perseverance rover showing vestiges of a lava flow at Jezero crater. This scene is a composite of two Left Mastcam-Z camera images taken Friday, 2 June 2023, at a local solar time of 10:20 am.
The color has been balanced to better match human vision.
