Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2020

36 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020 SPACE CHRONICLES A multiwavelength observation in ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared light of Jupiter obtained by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on 25 August 2020 is giving re- searchers an entirely new view of the giant planet. [NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M. H. Wong (University of Cali- fornia, Berkeley) and the OPAL team] Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is visible to the left of the gas giant. Europa is already thought to harbour a liq- uid ocean beneath its icy crust, mak- ing this moon one of the main tar- gets in the search for habitable worlds beyond Earth. In 2013 it was announced that the Hubble Space Telescope discovered water vapour erupting from the frigid surface of Europa, in one or more localised plumes near its south pole. ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer, a mission planned for launch in 2022, aims to ex- plore both Jupiter and three of its largest moons: Ganymede, Cal- listo, and Europa. Hubble also cap- tured a new multi- w a v e l e n g t h observation in ul- traviolet/visible/ T his video presents two new views of Jupiter taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. [NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M. H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), the OPAL team, and M. Kornmesser (ESA/Hubble)] near-infrared light of Jupiter on 25 August 2020, which is giving re- searchers an entirely new view of the giant planet. Hubble’s near in- frared imaging, combined with ul- traviolet views, provides a unique panchromatic look that offers in- sights into the altitude and distri- bution of the planet’s haze and par- ticles. This complements Hubble’s visible-light picture that shows the ever-changing cloud patterns. !