Compass and Scale Image for Jupiter
Jupiter
The semi-major axis of Jupiter's orbit about the Sun is 5.2 astronomical units (483 million miles or 778 million km). On July 23, 2009 Jupiter was 368 million miles from Earth.
The planet has a diameter of roughly 88,789 miles (142,984 km) at the equator.
The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 12003: H. Hammel (Space Science Institute), A. Simon-Miller (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), J. Clarke (Boston University), I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley), K. Noll (STScI), G. Orton (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), A. Sanchez-Lavega (University of the Basque Country, Spain), and M. Wong (STScI).
Acknowledgments for Jupiter
Observers: H. Hammel (Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.), A. Simon-Miller (NASA/GSFC), J. Clarke (Boston University), I. de Pater (UC Berkeley), K. Noll (STScI), G. Orton (JPL), A. Sanchez-Lavega (University of the Basque Country, Spain), and M. Wong (STScI)
Data Analysis: M. Wong (STScI)
Image Composition: Z. Levay and L. Frattare (STScI)
Text: D. Weaver and R. Villard (STScI)
Illustrations: Z. Levay (STScI)
Video: G. Bacon (STScI)
Science Consultant: M. Livio (STScI)
FQ437N (437 nm), FQ508N (508 nm), and FQ634N (634 nm)
The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Three filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are:
Red: FQ634N (634 nm)
Green: FQ508N (508 nm)
Blue: FQ437N (437 nm)
NASA, ESA, and H. Hammel (Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.), and the Jupiter Impact Team