In this image of Jupiter, the first thing that catches your eye is the stunning circular black spot that looks like a hole or storm similar to the Great Red Spot but with impossible features. For those familiar with the sci-fi novel or movie “2010: Odyssey Two,” this image of Jupiter will inevitably remind them of the artificial black spot that begins spreading across the planet in its climax part of the story. The Juno space probe captured the image on September 11, 2019, when it was hovering at an altitude of 7,862 kilometers above the planet’s highest clouds. The image was then processed, but in no way manipulated. What it shows is real, even if it isn’t what it seems.

Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC BY) from graphic material from: NASA JPL / Caltech / SwRI / MSSS)

The black spot is the shadow cast by Io, one of the moons of the gas giant planet, on the “roof” of Jupiter’s cloud. Io orbits Jupiter at a distance of about 422,000 km. This is about the same distance as the Moon from Earth, but given the enormity of Jupiter (more than 1,300 Earth-sized planets can match the size of the space it occupies), Io is clearly very close to Jupiter. (fountain: NCYT DE AMAZINGS)