NASA's Juno Mission Captures Image of 'Face' in Jupiter's Atmosphere

Citizen scientist Vladimir Tarasov creates image of 'face' in Jupiter's atmosphere from raw data, a phenomenon known as pareidolia, during NASA's Juno mission's latest flyby of the gas giant on September 7.

• The image of a 'face' in Jupiter's atmosphere was captured by NASA's Juno mission during its 54th close flyby of the gas giant on September 7, 2023.
• The figure was found in a region of the planet known as Jet N7, which sits in Jupiter’s northern reaches, around 69 degrees north.
• Vladimir Tarasov, a citizen scientist, made the image using raw data from the JunoCam’s publicly accessible raw image library, which was taken about 4,800 miles (7,700 km) above Jupiter.
• The 'face' consists of oblong dark eyes, a nose, and a deeply frowning mouth created by cloud formations, a phenomenon caused by pareidolia, which prompts humans to perceive faces or patterns in unrelated structures.
• This is not the first instance of pareidolia captured by NASA, a similar 'Face on Mars' photo was taken in 1976 which turned out to be an ordinary mesa.
• Ongoing studies of Jupiter's atmosphere by Juno have offered valuable insights into the planet's weather and the characteristics of its moons.

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