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This is Juno's first image of Jupiter from orbit

This is Juno's first image of Jupiter from orbit

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NASA's Juno spacecraft is in orbit around Jupiter, and there's good news — the onboard JunoCam camera is operational and ready to send photos back. This composite image is the first to be released since Juno's arrival; it was taken while the spacecraft was 2.7 million miles away from Jupiter. You can see the planet's famous Great Red Spot, as well as three moons: Io, Europa, and Ganymede.

"This scene from JunoCam indicates it survived its first pass through Jupiter's extreme radiation environment without any degradation and is ready to take on Jupiter," said the Southwest Research Institute's Scott Bolton in a statement. "We can't wait to see the first view of Jupiter's poles."

You'll have to wait a bit for a better view, however — the first high-resolution shots will be taken on August 27th. Juno will get as close as 2,600 miles to Jupiter during its mission, which is primarily intended to study the planet's auroras, atmosphere, and structure, but JunoCam will be snapping photos all the way.

juno first orbit shot