                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 December 14

                     Juno Flyby of Ganymede and Jupiter
                Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SWRI, MSSS;
      Animation: Koji Kuramura, Gerald Eichstädt, Mike Stetson; Music:
                                  Vangelis

   Explanation: What would it be like to fly over the largest moon in the
   Solar System? In 2021, the robotic Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter's
   huge moon Ganymede and took images that have been digitally constructed
   into a detailed flyby. As the featured video begins, Juno swoops over
   the two-toned surface of the 2,000-km wide moon, revealing an icy alien
   landscape filled with grooves and craters. The grooves are likely
   caused by shifting surface plates, while the craters are caused by
   violent impacts. Continuing on in its orbit, Juno then performed its
   34th close pass over Jupiter's clouds. The digitally-constructed video
   shows numerous swirling clouds in the north, colorful planet-circling
   zones and bands across the middle -- featuring several white-oval
   clouds from the String of Pearls, and finally more swirling clouds in
   the south.

                    Tomorrow's picture: andromeda sprite
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

