In this captivating image, Io’s orange moon pierces Jupiter’s bright cloud tops, casting shadows over the planet’s western edge. Hubble’s extraordinary resolution allows us to see Io’s orange-spotted surface, which is attributed to its abundance of active volcanoes. This fiery wonderland was first detected during the Voyager 1 flyby in 1979. Beneath its thin crust, Io’s interior is bathed in molten material that is periodically ejected via volcanoes. The varied color palette of Io’s surface arises from the interaction of sulfur with varying temperatures, resulting in a dazzling appearance. Credits: Science: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Forecast strong winds, smog
outer planets outside[{” attribute=””>Mars do not have solid surfaces to affect weather as on Earth. And, sunlight is much less able to drive atmospheric circulation. Nevertheless, these are ever-changing worlds. And Hubble – as interplanetary meteorologist – is keeping track, as it does every year. weather is driven from inside-out as more heat percolates up from its interior than it receives from the Sun. This heat indirectly drives color change cycles highlighting a system of alternating cyclones and anticyclones. weather observer, keeping an eye on the largely gaseous outer planets and their ever-changing atmospheres. NASA spacecraft missions to the outer planets have given us a close-up look at these atmospheres, but Hubble’s sharpness and sensitivity keeps an unblinking eye on a kaleidoscope of complex activities over time. In this way Hubble complements observations from other spacecraft such as Juno, currently orbiting Jupiter; the retired 
Hubble Space Telescope images of Jupiter taken on November 12, 2022 (left) and January 6, 2023 (right). Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Jupiter
[left]– Jupiter’s forecast is stormy weather at low northern latitudes. A series of prominent alternating storms can be seen, forming the “Vortex Street” as some planetary astronomers call it. It is a pattern of overlapping anti-cyclonic and cyclonic waves, locked together as in a machine with alternating gears moving clockwise and counterclockwise. If the storms are close enough to each other, in a very unlikely merger event, they could build up to a much larger storm, potentially rivaling the current size of the Great Red Spot. The gradual pattern of anticyclones and cyclones prevents the merging of individual storms. Land activity from this storm is also visible; In the 1990s, Hubble saw no cyclones or anticyclones with internal storms, but these have appeared in the last decade. The strong color variation indicates that Hubble also sees different cloud heights and depths.
The orange moon Io photographs this view of Jupiter’s colorful cloud tops, casting shadows on the planet’s western edge. The resolution of the Hubble telescope is so sharp that it can see the appearance of Io’s orange speck, which is associated with many active volcanoes. The volcano was first discovered when the Voyager 1 spacecraft flew in 1979. The liquid interior of the Moon is covered in a thin crust from which volcanoes spew material. Sulfur has different colors at different temperatures, which is why Io’s surface is so colorful. This photo was taken on November 12, 2022.
[right]—The fabled Great Red Spot of Jupiter takes center stage in this view. Although this vortex is large enough to engulf the Earth, it has actually shrunk to the smallest size ever recorded by observations dating back 150 years. Jupiter’s icy moon, Ganymede, is seen past the giant planet at lower right. Slightly larger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. It is a crater world with a primary water-ice surface with visible outflows of ice driven by internal heat. (This image is smaller because Jupiter was 81,000 miles from Earth when the image was taken.) This photo was taken on January 6, 2023.
Hubble Space Telescope images of Uranus taken on November 9, 2014 (L) and November 9, 2022. Credits: Science: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Image Processing : Joseph DiPasquale (STScI)
Uranus
Uranus eccentrically rolls on its side around the sun as it follows its 84-year orbit, instead of rotating in a more vertical position like Earth. Uranus has a curiously “horizontal” axis of rotation only eight degrees from the plane of the planet’s orbit. One recent theory suggests that Uranus once had massive moons that were gravitationally unstable and then collided. Other possibilities include giant effects during planet formation, or even giant planets exerting resonant torques on each other over time. The consequence of this tilt of the planet is that, at intervals of up to 42 years, parts of the hemisphere are not exposed to sunlight at all. When the Voyager 2 spacecraft visited in the 1980s, the planet’s south pole was pointed directly at the sun. Hubble’s latest view shows that the North Pole is now tilted toward the Sun.
[left]This is a Hubble view of Uranus taken in 2014, seven years after the northern vernal equinox when the sun shines directly over the planet’s equator, and shows one of the first images from the OPAL program. Several storms with clouds of methane ice crystals appear in the mid-northern latitudes above the planet’s cyan-colored lower atmosphere. Hubble has imaged a ring system on the edge in 2007, but the ring begins to bloom after seven years in this view. Currently, the planet is experiencing some minor storms and even some faint cloud clusters.
[right]– As seen in 2022, Uranus’ north pole shows a thick photochemical haze like smoke over cities. Several minor storms were seen near the edge of the polar fog boundary. Hubble has been tracking the size and brightness of the northern polar cap and it keeps getting brighter year after year. Astronomers unravel the myriad influences–from atmospheric circulation, to particle properties, and chemical processes–that control how the atmosphere’s polar caps change with the seasons. At the 2007 European equinox, neither pole is too bright. As the northern summer solstice approaches in 2028, the cap may get brighter, and will point directly at Earth, allowing for good views of the ring and the North Pole; The ring system will then appear live. This photo was taken on November 9, 2022.
about Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope is a remarkable collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Delving into the mysteries of the universe, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore is leading Hubble’s science endeavors. The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, located in Washington, DC, operates the STScI on behalf of NASA.
