Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


A Triple Eclipse on Jupiter
<< Yesterday 2.02.1998 Tomorrow >>
A Triple Eclipse on Jupiter
Credit & Copyright: E. Karkoschka (UA) & S. Murrell (NMSU), NMSU 0.6-m Telescope
Explanation: Part of Jupiter is missing. Actually, three parts appear to be missing. In reality though, the three dark spots seen in the above photograph are only shadows. The unusual alignment of three of Jupiter's moons between the Jovian giant and the Sun was imaged last November 10th. The shadows of Io, Callisto, and Ganymede move across Jupiter as these moons progress in their orbits. It was by noting the times of eclipse of Jupiter's moons in 1675 that Ole Roemer became the first person to measure the speed of light. When a shadow from Earth's Moon crosses the Earth's surface, the people inside the shadow see an eclipse of the Sun.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < February 1998  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su






1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: Jupiter - Moon - eclipse
Publications with words: Jupiter - Moon - eclipse
See also:
All publications on this topic >>