Hubble Telescope Captures Jupiter's Rare Three-Moon Conjunction (VIDEO)

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured some images of a rare occurrence. It's caught three of Jupiter's largest moons passing in front of the gas planet's banded face.

The three moons in the new image are Europa, Callisto and Io. The three satellites complete orbits around Jupiter that range from two to 17 days in length. The moons can commonly be seen passing in front of the face of Jupiter, casting shows onto its layer of clouds. However, seeing all three of them passing the face at once is rare, indeed. In fact, it only occurs once or twice each decade.

In the far left image, you can see the three moons at the beginning of the event. On the left is Callisto and on the right is Io. In the image of the right, you can see the end of the event. Europa has joined its two sisters in the lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it.

Although it's difficult to see in this latest image, the moons of Jupiter have very distinctive colors. The smooth icy surface of Europa is yellow-white while the volcanic sulfur surface of Io is orange. The surface of Callisto, which is one of the oldest and most cratered surfaces known in the solar system, is a brownish color.

These latest images show an event that won't occur again for another decade or more. Not only that, but you can see the event for yourself on video, which you can see below.

Want to learn more about Hubble? Find out about the telescope on NASA's website.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).