New Horizons
NASA's Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
Mission Overview
Mission
New Horizons Mission Phases
The Team
Spacecraft
Spacecraft Systems and Components
Payload
Ground Stations
Data Collection
Where Is New Horizons?
Current Position
Passing the Planets
Journey through the Kuiper Belt
Science Operations Center
Publications
Q&A
The Path to Pluto and Arrokoth
Mission Design
Mission Timeline
Launch
Jupiter Encounter
Pluto Flyby
Arrokoth Flyby
KEM2 Science
KEM2 Overview
KEM2 Overview
Planetary Science
Heliophysics
Astrophysics
Publications
Pluto
Pluto
Why Pluto?
About Clyde Tombaugh
The Pluto System
Pluto
Charon
Moons
Publications
Pluto Perspective
Arrokoth
Arrokoth
About the Kuiper Belt
About Gerard Kuiper
About Arrokoth (2014 MU69)
Exploring the Kuiper Belt
Publications
News Center
News Center
News Archive
Current
Archives
New Horizons on Twitter
Meetings
The PI's Perspective
Current
Archives
Spotlight Presentations
Discovery Stories
Science Perspective
Science Shorts
Media Contacts
Resources
Fact Sheets
Press Kits
Press Conferences
Publications
Glossary
Subscribe to eNews
Galleries
Galleries
Images
Featured Images
Spacecraft Photos
Launch Photos
Event Photos
Raw Images
Arrokoth Encounter
Pluto Encounter
Jupiter Encounter
Podcasts
Videos
Animations
Live Events
Data Movies
Mission Videos
Graphics
Artist Renderings
Exhibit Artwork
Infographics
Posters
Printables
Image/Video Use Policy
Learn
Learn
Interactives
Chat with the Team
Names to Pluto
Eyes on the Solar System
Student Dust Counter
Fun Facts
Activities
Educational Materials
Models
Get Involved
Features
Toolkit
Pluto Flyby Memories
Educator Fellows
Parallax Program
Uranus-Neptune Observations
Resources
Toolkit
Fact Sheets
Press Kits
Press Conferences
Publications
Glossary
Featured Video
Loading the player...
View all videos »
Galleries
Images > Featured Images
Featured Images
Spacecraft Photos
Launch Photos
Event Photos
Click on image to enlarge.
Jupiter's Rings: Sharpest View
Release Date:
May 1, 2007
Keywords:
dust
,
Jupiter
,
LORRI
,
particles
,
rings
The New Horizons spacecraft took the best images of Jupiter’s charcoal-black rings as it approached and then looked back at Jupiter. The top image was taken on approach, showing three well-defined lanes of gravel- to boulder-sized material composing the bulk of the rings, as well as lesser amounts of material between the rings. New Horizons snapped the lower image after it had passed Jupiter on February 28, 2007, and looked back in a direction toward the sun. The image is sharply focused, though it appears fuzzy due to the cloud of dust-sized particles enveloping the rings. The dust is brightly illuminated in the same way the dust on a dirty windshield lights up when you drive toward a “low” sun. The narrow rings are confined in their orbits by small “shepherding” moons.
The pictures were taken by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnsiassance Imager (LORRI), which, like the New Horizons spacecraft, was designed and built at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
« Prev
Next »