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Astronomers have captured some of the highest resolution images of Jupiter ever obtained from the ground using a technique known as “lucky imagery.”
Observations, from the Gemini North telescope on Hauna’s dormant volcano, Mauna Kea, reveal lightning and storm systems that form around deep clouds of water and liquid ice. The images show the warm and deep layers of the planet’s atmosphere shining through gaps in the thick cloud layer in a “Jack-o-lantern” effect.
“The Gemini data was critical because it allowed us to deeply explore Jupiter’s clouds on a regular schedule,” he said. Michael Wong of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the research team. “We use a very powerful technique called the lucky picture.”
The technique is to obtain a large number of very short exposure images and then only use the sharpest images, when the Earth’s atmosphere is briefly stable, and discard the rest. The latest observations provide some of the sharpest infrared images of Jupiter ever obtained from the ground. “These images rival the view from space,” said Wong. – Guardian
