For the start of World Space Week, today"s homepage features a composite of images taken by NASA"s Juno probe as it swooped past Jupiter. The largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter also has the largest number of moons: 79. Jupiter is the Roman counterpart to Zeus, and the planet"s major moons are named after Zeus", shall we say, extra-marital partners. So, when it came time to name NASA"s most ambitious Jupiter probe, they decided to name it after Jupiter’s wife, Juno, so that she could keep an eye on him. Every 53 days in the course of its wide and complex orbit, the Juno probe makes its closest approach, snapping shots like these as it speeds past the gas giant in just two hours. World Space Week starts on the anniversary of the launch of the very first space probe, Sputnik, which entered orbit around the Earth on October 4, 1957.
World Space Week begins
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Fat Bear Week
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Tasiilaq, Greenland
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Sands of time
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St. Patricks Day
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Merry and bright
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Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve, Estonia
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The most Instagrammable bird?
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Hanging out on a limb
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Breaking the fast for Eid
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Who s there? The largest owl in the world
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A notorious advocate for women
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Juneteenth
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Old underground cellar, Bavaria, Germany
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Antarctica Day
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Hyalite Creek at Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana
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In orbit for Yuri s Night
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Zelenci Nature Reserve, Slovenia
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Siblings Day
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Pollinators: not to be sneezed at
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There was gold in them there hills…
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In praise of bogs, swamps, and marshes
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A Portuguese fort takes a star turn
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International Haiku Poetry Day
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Polar bears
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Hut, hut, hike!
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Regional Park of Migliarino, San Rossore, Massaciuccoli, Italy
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Belgium celebrates its independence
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Mount Segla, Senja Island, Norway
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Sundance Film Festival opens in Park City
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A stunning sight in Mexico s wilderness