Jupiter's Appearance in Microwave Light

A CLOSER LOOK

This animation depicts Jupiter's banded appearance in microwave light as seen by the microwave radiometer instrument (MWR) aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft. The instrument contains six microwave channels that peer progressively deeper below the visible cloud tops. The bottom layer is MWR's channel 1 which is the longest wavelength channel and is sensitive to the deepest depths. Each of the other channels is sensitive to progressively shallower depths. The three shallowest channels are shown on the left, where Jupiter's mid-latitude "belts" are microwave-bright in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and "zones" are microwave-dark. The three deepest channels, which probe below the water clouds, are on the right, where belts and zones become dark in microwave light. The Juno s

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