Space

The Whirling Clouds Of Jupiter Resembles Vincent van Gogh's Famous Painting

Elaine Hannah
First Posted: Mar 06, 2017 03:03 AM EST

NASA's Juno spacecraft captured a new image of Jupiter that shows its whirling clouds. They are stunning and the clouds look like Vincent van Gogh's painting, The Starry Night.

In the image, it shows the beautiful clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere and was taken to the west of the great red spot in the South Equatorial Belt. It is theorized that Jupiter comprises mainly of gas and has no solid surface. The patterns that can be seen are caused by the chemical composition of the planet. The first layer is about 30 miles thick and consists of ammonia, methane, water and sulfur. This triggers constant hurricane-like cyclones on the planet. Under this layer is the 13,000 miles of gas that is mostly hydrogen and helium, according to Inverse.

Meanwhile, citizen scientist Amelia Sparavigna noticed the similarities between the clouds of Jupiter to the whirling patterns that represent the night sky in the famous painting of Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night. Sparavigna substituted the section of the painting and shows the resemblance between art and nature. Other JunoCam users have also noticed the similarity.

NASA's Juno spacecraft aims to examine and investigate the regions beneath the planet's cloudy surface. It captures breathtaking images of Jupiter's swirling weather patterns and sends them back to Earth. It also has taken another image during its flyby on Feb. 2, 2017. It shows gasses swirling in the Jovian atmosphere that look like cotton candy or cream swirling in coffee, according to Live Science. 

See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone

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