NASA has released a new, eerie image of a ‘face’ on Jupiter just in time for Halloween. The picture was taken by NASA’s Juno probe during its 54th close flyby of the gas giant last month. The image captures Jupiter’s moody clouds forming an unusual pattern that resembles contorted eyes, nose, and a mouth. Half of the image is in darkness on the planet’s night side, which adds to the creepiness. The US space agency stated that the face appears to be peering out from behind a door. The release of the image on October 25 coincided with what would have been Picasso’s 142nd birthday.
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is a massive ball of gas made mainly of hydrogen and helium. NASA described Jupiter as having cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. The planet’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm larger than Earth that has been raging for hundreds of years. Jupiter is twice as large as all the other planets combined, and the Great Red Spot alone is big enough to fit the entire Earth.
This is not the first time Juno has captured such an image. The vantage point of Juno, circling high above Jupiter, often leads to the phenomenon of pareidolia, where the human brain tries to make sense of random patterns and perceives meaning that isn’t real. Citizen scientist Vladimir Tarasov spotted the particular ‘facial features’ in Jupiter’s storm clouds. The image shows oblong dark eyes framed by clouds that resemble an eyebrow, a squished nose with nostrils, and a sad smile. NASA described it as resembling a Cubist portrait with multiple perspectives of a face.
Juno’s mission is to study Jupiter’s composition, polar magnetosphere, gravity field, magnetic field, turbulent atmosphere, weather, and its moons. The spacecraft’s mission, initially scheduled to end in July 2021, has been extended until September 2025 or until the end of its life. Juno reached Jupiter on July 4, 2016, following a five-year journey from Earth. It entered a long polar orbit, flying within 3,100 miles of the planet’s swirling cloud tops. No previous spacecraft has orbited as close to Jupiter. When the mission concludes, Juno will be guided into Jupiter’s atmosphere until it disintegrates.
