Jupiter's Rings - Galileo

Mosaic of Jupiter's main ring

Jupiter's rings
This is a mosaic of four images of Jupiters rings taken by the Galileo spacecraft through the clear filter. The images were taken from a range of 2.3 million km while the spacecraft was in Jupiter's shadow. They were taken from only 0.5 degrees above the ring plane and have a resolution of about 92 km. The thin ring, extending from a radius of roughly 122,000 to 129,000 km, is illuminated by scattered sunlight, indicating it is made of particles 1 micron or smaller in size. Most of the ring visible here is the main ring. The gossamer ring is outside the main ring and the lenticular halo inside. A faint mist of particles above and below the flat main ring is thought to be caused by electromagnetic forces. The arc on the right side of the image is Jupiter's limb, illuminated by sunlight scattered in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. The frame is roughly 60,000 km across and north is up. (Galileo, P-49746)
Larger image ( 18K) jpg

High resolution tif file (712K)


Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1996-11-08
Distance/Range (km): 2,300,000.
Central Latitude/Longitude (deg): N/A
Orbit(s): Callisto 3

Imaging Information
Area or Feature Type: rings
Instrument: Solid State Imaging CCD Camera
Instrument Resolution (pixels): 800 x 800, 8 bit
Instrument Field of View (deg): 0.46 x 0.46
Filter: clear
Illumination Incidence Angle (deg): N/A
Phase Angle (deg): N/A
Instrument Look Direction: N/A
Surface Emission Angle (deg): N/A

Ordering Information
CD-ROM Volume: N/A
NASA Image ID number: P-49746
Other Image ID number: MRPS-81145
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): NSD XD-12A
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID: N/A


| HOME | MISSION INDEX | FAQ |

[NASA Logo] Authors/Curators:

Dave Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov, (301) 286-1258
Code 690.1, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Jay Friedlander, jay.s.friedlander@nasa.gov, (301) 286-7172
Code 612.4, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

NASA Official: Dr. David R. Williams, David.R.Williams@nasa.gov

Last updated: 24 September 2015