This Time-Lapse Of Juno's Arrival At Jupiter Is Truly Out Of This World

Jupiter, like you've never seen it before...
NASA NASA / Reuters

After five long years of travelling through our Solar System the spacecraft is now ready to help us understand more about the gas giant.

In this spectacular time-lapse you can watch Juno’s final approach to the planet.

The video was actually created by amateur astronomer Gerald Eichstädt who was able to take a collection of still images captured by Juno’s on-board camera and stitch them together.

What makes the film really interesting is that you’re effectively witnessing the moment that Juno was captured by Jupiter’s enormous gravitational pull.

A brief slowdown as it enters Jupiter’s visual range is then followed by a huge increase in speed as NASA’s scientists place the spacecraft into a tight elliptical orbit around the planet.

Meet Juno

NASA

Juno is an astonishing spacecraft that has accomplished a great number of firsts for NASA.

It is the first solar-powered spacecraft to reach Jupiter, it will also be the closest that any spacecraft has ever got to Jupiter’s surface (2,600 miles).

It’s also the fastest spacecraft to ever enter orbit around a planet, travelling at an astonishing 130,000mph by the time it reaches the gas giant.

Juno is now officially the farthest solar-powered spacecraft from Earth and will begin a two-year mission of discovery which will help scientists better understand one of the largest objects in our solar system.

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