Jupiter is well known for its spectacular aurorae, thanks in no small part to the Juno orbiter and recent images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Like Earth, these dazzling displays result from charged solar particles interacting with Jupiter’s magnetic field and atmosphere. Over the years, astronomers have also detected faint aurorae in the atmospheres of Jupiter’s largest moons (aka. the “Galilean Moons“). These are also the result of interaction, in this case, between Jupiter’s magnetic field and particles emanating from the moons’ atmospheres.

Jupiter is a superstar in our solar system. It’s the biggest, it’s wonderfully gassy, and it now has the most documented moons, clocking in at 92 natural satellites. Its new count became official on January 20, 2023, when the Minor Planet Center recognized the last of a batch of 10 newly identified moons. Jupiter is stealing the title from Saturn, which only has 83 documented moons.

Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system. Saturn, the one-time leader, comes in a close second with 83 confirmed moons.

Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system.

Jupiter is flinging dangerous comets and asteroids at Earth rather than acting as its shield, a scientist has revealed. A popular theory suggests that Jupiter acts like a gigantic protector in the solar system, sucking or deflecting dangerous debris with its tremendous mass.

"We are screaming by pretty fast."

Enormous polygon-shaped cyclone systems at Jupiter’s north and south poles have left scientists baffled over how they maintain their bizarre but beautifully geometric shapes for years. The hurricane-force storms — each the size of the continental United States — have remained inexplicably stable in their strange configurations since they were first discovered by the Juno spacecraft in 2017.

Stunning images taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope show Jupiter in new glory. Fifth in line from the sun, Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system — more than twice as big as all the others combined. If Earth were the size of a grape, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball, NASA says.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) is already confounding expectations with a surprising new discovery: It detected evidence for clouds on an exoplanet that was thought to have completely clear skies.

The finding settles a long-standing debate about the gas giant's formation.

MIT astronomers have obtained the clearest view yet of the perpetual dark side of an exoplanet that is “tidally locked” to its star. The planet is WASP-121b, a massive gas giant nearly twice the size of Jupiter.

NASA has detected the most energetic light ever seen on Jupiter and, in the process, solved a 30-year-old mystery. In a new study, researchers using NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) space observatory were able to spot the highest-energy light ever seen on Jupiter. The light, which is X-ray radiation, is also the highest-energy light ever seen on a planet in our solar system other than Earth.

An audio track collected during Jupiter mission’s Ganymede flyby offers a dramatic ride-along. It is one highlights mission scientists shared in a briefing at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. Sounds from a Ganymede flyby, magnetic fields, and remarkable comparisons between Jupiter and Earth’s oceans and atmospheres were discussed during a briefing today on NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans.

A NASA spacecraft is giving the best-ever 3D model of the largest planet of our solar system. The Juno mission is using its second extended phase to peer far into the clouds of Jupiter, using a polar-orbiting view that no previous spacecraft was able to access.

It's hard to imagine the sheer scale of Jupiter's Great Red Spot from here on Earth, because the storm is so big that it could swallow our planet. Now, it turns out, the Great Red Spot isn't just wide: it's deep too, quite a bit deeper than anybody expected. Data from NASA's Juno spacecraft has shown that the behemoth storm extends as much as 310 miles (500 kilometers) beneath Jupiter's cloud tops. And the Jupiter maelstrom is linked to jets that go far deeper, hinting that the giant planet's upper and lower atmospheres are tied together.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has zipped past Jupiter's poles, watched its Great Red Spot churn, and visited its largest moon.

In 1994, the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter, which had captured the comet shortly before (and broken apart by its gravity). The event became a media circus as it was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. The impact was so powerful that it left scars that endured for months and were more discernible than Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

X-ray flares triggered by vibrations in magnetic field lines.

The images Juno captured are the most up-close NASA has gotten to Ganymede in over 20 years—and the views didn't disappoint.

So you want to find dark matter, but you don't know where to look. A giant planet might be exactly the kind of particle detector you need! Luckily, our solar system just happens to have a couple of them available, and the biggest and closest is Jupiter. Researchers Rebecca Leane (Stanford) and Tim Linden (Stockholm) released a paper this week describing how the gas giant just might hold the key to finding the elusive dark matter.