PIA01990: Neptune - dark oval

Target Name: Neptune Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun) Mission: Voyager Spacecraft: Voyager 2 Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Product Size: 150 samples x 150 lines Produced By: JPL Producer ID: P34436 Addition Date: 1999-07-25 Primary Data Set: Voyager EDRs Full-Res TIFF: PIA01990.tif (5.052 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA01990.jpg (1.329 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: The large, dark oval spot in Neptune's atmosphere is just coming into view in this picture returned from the Voyager 2 spacecraft on June 30, 1989. The spacecraft was about 83 million kilometers (51.5 million miles) from Neptune. Voyager scientists are interested in the dark oval cloud system, a very large system similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Contrast of the features in Neptune's atmosphere is similar to that obtained at Saturn at about this same distance and lighting, whereas the features are similar to those seen at Jupiter. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Voyager Project for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. Image Credit: NASA/JPL