Sharpening up Jupiter Space Wallpaper

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Sharpening up Jupiter
Amazing image of Jupiter taken in infrared light on the night of Aug. 17, 2008 with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) prototype instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope. (Image credit: ESO/F. Marchis, M. Wong, E. Marchetti, P. Amico, S. Tordo)

This amazing space wallpaper of Jupiter was taken in infrared light on the night of Aug. 17, 2008 with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) prototype instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope. The great red spot is not visible in this image as it was on the other side of the planet during the observations. The observations were done at infrared wavelengths where absorption due to hydrogen and methane is strong. This explains why the colours are different from how we usually see Jupiter in visible-light.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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