JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN, A GIANT EYE APPEARS ON JUPITER

But it is only an optical illusion caused by its moon Ganymede's shadow

 passing over its giant spot.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and Ganymede’s Shadow. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center)

 

Halloween is just around the corner. And in what appears to be an act of cosmic convergence, Hubble captured a spooky image of Jupiter staring back at us with a cyclops eye!

 

While this is merely a convenient illusion caused by the passage of Ganymede in front of Jupiter – something it does on a regular basis – the timing and appearance are perfect.

 

During the exposures, the shadow of the Jovian moon Ganymede swept across the center of the GRS, giving the giant planet the uncanny appearance of having a pupil in the center of its 16,000 km-diameter (10,000-mile) “eye.”

 

The conjunction was so perfect, scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center claimed that “For a moment, Jupiter ‘stared’ back at Hubble like a one-eyed giant Cyclops.”

Read more
http://www.universetoday.com/115759/just-in-time-for-halloween-jupiters-gets-a-giant-cyclops-eye/

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