PIA00050: Neptune's Southern Hemisphere

Target Name: Neptune Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun) Mission: Voyager Spacecraft: Voyager 2 Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Product Size: 884 samples x 698 lines Produced By: JPL Producer ID: P34649 Addition Date: 1996-01-29 Primary Data Set: Voyager EDRs Full-Res TIFF: PIA00050.tif (931.2 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA00050.jpg (35.2 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: This photograph of Neptune's southern hemisphere was taken by the narrow-angle camera on NASA's Voyager 2 when the spacecraft was 4.2 million km (2.6 million miles) from the planet. The smallest features that can be seen are 38 km (24 miles) across. The almond-shaped structure at the left is a large cloud system that has been seen for several weeks. Internal details in the feature have become increasingly apparent as Voyager 2 has approached. Systems with similar shapes in Jupiter's atmosphere rotate about their centers, rolling in the local winds that increase toward the south. However, the wispy nature of the white central clouds in this Neptunian feature make confirmation of the system's rotation difficult. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. Image Credit: NASA/JPL