Credit & Copyright: ESO,
F.Marchis, M.Wong (UC Berkeley);
E.Marchetti, P.Amico, S.Tordo (ESO)
Explanation:
This dramatic image of Jupiter is touted as the
sharpest picture
of the entire gas giant ever taken from the ground.
The picture was made using a prototype instrument known as
MAD (Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator)
mounted on one of the European Southern Observatory's 8-meter diameter
Very Large Telescope units in Chile.
Working at infrared
wavelengths the MAD instrument
removes atmospheric blurring, the bane
of earthbound telescopes,
by using multiple guide stars and deformable mirrors to sense and
correct for the distortions produced by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere.
Hydrogen and methane deep in
Jupiter's
own thick atmosphere
absorb light at infrared wavelengths.
So, this sharper view shows the infrared sunlight reflected
from the giant planet's high level haze
prominent in the equatorial regions
and near the poles, revealing
features as small as 300 kilometers across.
The promising technique can also be applied to imaging other
extended objects like star clusters and nebulae.
Take a survey on
Aesthetics and Astronomy.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr' |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
|
Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami:
Jupiter - Yupiter
Publikacii so slovami: Jupiter - Yupiter | |
Sm. takzhe:
Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >> | |
