WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:04.130 [off camera] All eyes will be on Jupiter this weekend. That's because Jupiter will be shining 2 00:00:04.150 --> 00:00:08.200 the biggest and brightest, as it will all year. Here to tell us why 3 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:12.320 and where we can find it in the night sky, and show us the Hubble Space Telescope 4 00:00:12.340 --> 00:00:16.500 newest image of Jupiter is Dr. Michelle Thaller at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. 5 00:00:16.520 --> 00:00:20.550 Thanks for joining us. [Thaller] Great to be here, thank you. [off camera] So start by 6 00:00:20.570 --> 00:00:24.620 telling us why is this weekend the best time to view Jupiter and where 7 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:28.730 can we find it in the night sky? [Thaller] Yes actually so this weekend Jupiter 8 00:00:28.750 --> 00:00:32.900 it makes its closest approach to the Earth for next 13 months. And that means its 9 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:36.930 the largest and brightest in the sky. So if you go outside at sunset 10 00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:40.960 and look over in the East, on the opposite of the sky from the sun, you'll see Jupiter rising. 11 00:00:40.980 --> 00:00:44.970 And even through a small telescope or a pair of binoculars 12 00:00:44.990 --> 00:00:49.000 you'll be able to see the giant planet and four of its largest moons. 13 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:53.120 This is a beautiful view. It's really well worth getting outside to see. Now what's happening 14 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:57.170 is that the Earth and Jupiter are actually on the same side of the sun. 15 00:00:57.190 --> 00:01:01.220 That's the closest we ever get. And we call that opposition. So this is the perfect 16 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:05.320 weekend to go out and see the largest planet in our solar system. 17 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:09.390 [off camera] Now I understand the Hubble Space Telescope just took a new image 18 00:01:09.410 --> 00:01:13.580 of Jupiter. Show us this new image and talk a little bit about what we're seeing? 19 00:01:13.600 --> 00:01:17.640 [Thaller] Well that's right, Hubble can take the same sort of advantage of Jupiter's close 20 00:01:17.660 --> 00:01:21.730 approach by making a beautiful image of Jupiter. So Hubble is in orbit above the Earth 21 00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:25.860 right now. And it returned this gorgeous image. I absolutely love the colors 22 00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:30.050 of this image. Here is our solar system's largest planet in all its splendor. 23 00:01:30.070 --> 00:01:34.100 You can see the famous Red Spot. You can see these wonderful bands of 24 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:38.180 color which are actually jet streams that are blowing between three and four hundred miles an hour 25 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:42.240 And remember that Jupiter is so big, you can fit a thousand Earths inside it. 26 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:46.410 This is a truly spectacular planet. [off camera] That's 27 00:01:46.430 --> 00:01:50.450 fascinating that you can a thousand Earths inside it. What are some of the other 28 00:01:50.470 --> 00:01:54.510 interesting things that we're learning about Jupiter? [Thaller] Well the amazing 29 00:01:54.530 --> 00:01:58.610 thing is that Jupiter is changing all the time. You're looking at clouds, you're looking at weather. 30 00:01:58.630 --> 00:02:02.760 So every time the Hubble Space Telescope looks at it, it's different. We're learning about 31 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:06.820 how Jupiter was formed, its composition. We're learning about the temperatures 32 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:10.880 of its clouds. And the Red Spot is a huge mystery. The Red Spot is actually a 33 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:14.940 hurricane. You can also see changes in the Northern Lights. These are actually 34 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:19.070 images of the auroras, the Northern Lights of Jupiter. As you can see they're shimmering. 35 00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:23.270 And constantly changing around. We also have a probe that's at Jupiter right now 36 00:02:23.290 --> 00:02:27.340 The Juno spacecraft. And these are images taken from much closer to Jupiter 37 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.410 Juno is actually in orbit around Jupiter right now returning spectacular 38 00:02:31.430 --> 00:02:35.530 images of the clouds. [off camera] Let's talk a little bit about the 39 00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:39.750 Great Red Spot. It's captivated astronomers for hundreds of years. 40 00:02:39.770 --> 00:02:43.860 And then Hubble has captured images of this spot 41 00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:47.980 mysteriously shrinking over the last two decades. Can you show us Hubble's unique view 42 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.110 of this feature? [Thaller] Well that's the wonderful thing about having such a long record from 43 00:02:52.130 --> 00:02:56.120 the Hubble telescope. So Hubble is actually close to celebrating it's 27th anniversary 44 00:02:56.140 --> 00:03:00.180 And it's been looking at this hurricane - it's actually an anticyclone. 45 00:03:00.200 --> 00:03:04.240 It actually orbits the other way around from a hurricane. And you can see that it changes color. 46 00:03:04.260 --> 00:03:08.310 It actually changes the size. So that's mysterious, we don't 47 00:03:08.330 --> 00:03:12.440 really know what's going on with the Red Spot. But this is weather and it can change 48 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:16.490 at any time. So it's wonderful to have this record year to year 49 00:03:16.510 --> 00:03:20.560 Right now the Red Spot is shrinking. We don't know how long the Red Spot will exist 50 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:24.610 in the future. [off camera] Europa, one of Jupiter's 51 00:03:24.630 --> 00:03:28.720 moons is one of the best places in our solar system to look for life. 52 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:32.880 What are scientists learning about this moon? [Thaller] Europa is a fascinating 53 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:36.950 world all by itself. It has a wonderful ice-covered surface, 54 00:03:36.970 --> 00:03:41.080 but underneath the surface there's a liquid water ocean. 55 00:03:41.100 --> 00:03:45.150 And we actually believe there's almost twice the amount of liquid water on Europa as there is on 56 00:03:45.170 --> 00:03:49.320 the entire planet Earth. Now recently we've discovered from the Hubble telescope 57 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:53.380 that there may be cracks in the ice that are venting some of this water. 58 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:57.480 Water vapor is actually coming out into space. And that's a really fascinating 59 00:03:57.500 --> 00:04:01.600 prospect because maybe we can sample that water. 60 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:05.800 [off camera] That's amazing. Where can we see more of Hubble's amazing images? [Thaller] Well to 61 00:04:05.820 --> 00:04:09.860 go and see wonderful collection of Hubble images - everything from the solar system to the very deep 62 00:04:09.880 --> 00:04:13.940 universe. Go to NASA.gov/Hubble or 63 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:18.060 @NASAHubble. As I mentioned before there are 27 years 64 00:04:18.080 --> 00:04:22.190 of images to look through, including this beautiful one released tonight of the biggest 65 00:04:22.210 --> 00:04:27.981 planet in our solar system. [off camera] Great thanks so much for join us! [Thaller] Thank you.