A Stormy Day on Jupiter

Small bright clouds pepper Jupiter's entire southern tropical zone in this image, captured from an altitude of 12,858 kilometres. Although the bright clouds appear tiny in this vast Jovian landscape, they are actually cloud towers approximately 50 kilometres wide and 50 kilometres tall that cast shadows on the clouds below. On Jupiter, clouds at this altitude are almost certainly made of water and/or ammonia ice and can be lightning sources. This is the first time so many cloud towers have been visible — possibly because the afternoon sunlight at this geometry is particularly favourable.