The National Mall in Southwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Jupiter
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), December 12, 2017
Jupiter is a gas giant planet consisting mostly of hydrogen and helium. Astronomers have discovered more than 60 moons orbiting Jupiter. In 1610 Italian astronomer Galileo discovered the four largest moons, although he saw them only as "stars." Today we know the large moons as volcanic Io, icy Europa, and cratered Ganymede and Callisto.
Have you heard of the Great Red Spot? This storm can have winds twice as fast as those in the strongest hurricanes on Earth. It is 2 to 3 times the size of Earth and has lasted for centuries.
Captions:
Inside the Observatory
During some evening stargazing events here, you can view Jupiter, its cloud bands and the Great Red Spot, and several of its moons. Over the course of just an hour, you can watch the moons change position and sometimes move in front of or behind Jupiter.
These images of Jupiter and two of its moons were taken through the Public Observatory's 4-inch finderscope over one hour on January 28, 2012.
This picture from 2007 combines a Hubble Space Telescope grayscale image of Jupiter and a false-color image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The Chandra image reveals intense auras (purple).
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SwRI/R. Gladstone et al.
Optical: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage (AURA/STScl)
As the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Jupiter in 2007, it captured these images of Jupiter's largest moons (left to right): Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
NASA/Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Viewing Our Solar System:
Juno
In 2011 NASA launched the unmanned solar-powered spacecraft Juno. Its goal is to explore Jupiter's neighborhood and colorful clouds. Juno will help scientists understand how a gas giant forms and changes. It may even answer questions about Jupiter's structure, whether the planet has a solid core, and how much water or oxygen it has. Juno should arrive at Jupiter in July 2016 and operate for a year.
Main image caption:
←An artist's concept of the Juno spacecraft arriving at Jupiter.
NASA/JPL
How to Learn More:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov
http://missionjuno.swri.edu
Erected by National Air and Space Museum.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Air & Space. A significant historical year for this entry is 1610.
Location. 38° 53.272′ N, 77° 1.112′ W. Marker is in Southwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in The National Mall. Marker is on Independence Avenue Southwest west of 4th Street
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), December 12, 2017
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Moon (here, next to this marker); Venus (here, next to this marker); Phoebe Waterman Haas (here, next to this marker); Saturn (here, next to this marker); Sun (here, next to this marker); Binary Stars (here, next to this marker); Cook Telescope (here, next to this marker); Star Nurseries (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Southwest Washington.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2017, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 171 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 12, 2017, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.