---
title: "Glorious NASA Photo Shows “Thin Bands” Running Across Jupiter"
description: "NASA's Juno spacecraft took this dramatic image of Jupiter's \"tumultous northern regions\" during a close flyby on February 17, 2020."
date: "2020-04-06"
modified: "2020-04-06"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/glorious-nasa-photo-thin-bands-jupiter"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "JPL"
  - "jupiter"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# Glorious NASA Photo Shows “Thin Bands” Running Across Jupiter

![NASA's Juno spacecraft took this dramatic image of Jupiter's "tumultous northern regions" during a close flyby on February 17, 2020.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/nasa-releases-glorious-photo-of-jupiter.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech\</em\>*

## North of Jupiter

NASA just released a [dramatic image](<https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/high-altitude-hazes-on-jupiter>) that its Juno spacecraft took of Jupiter's "tumultous northern regions" during a close flyby in February. The image was taken from 15,610 miles (25,120 kilometers) away from the gas giant — a distance about twice the diameter of Earth, making this the planetary equivalent of a close-up shot of the gas giant.

The spectacular image shows "thin bands" that run from top to bottom, representing layers of "haze particles" that drift underneath a cloud cover. We still don't actually know what exactly they are or how they are formed.

![](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/images/largesize/PIA23802_hires.jpg>)

## Jupiter Jet Streams

Jet streams on either side of the hazy bands may have something to do with the phenomenon, [according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory](<https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/high-altitude-hazes-on-jupiter>).

In 2017, NASA scientists [figured out](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-solves-how-a-jupiter-jet-stream-shifts-into-reverse>) that east-west jet streams on Jupiter tend to reverse course on a predictable schedule.

On Earth, jet streams are shifted by changing temperatures. Warmer temperatures force jet streams to flow eastwards, while cooler temperatures force it westwards. On Jupiter, a similar cycle takes about four Earth years and is mostly caused by gravity waves.

**READ MORE:**[ High-Altitude Hazes on Jupiter](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA23802>) \[JPL\]

**More on Jupiter:** [*Something Enormous Just Smashed Into Jupiter*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jupiter-hit-enormous-meteor>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)