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
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Evidence of human habitation
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Gazing upon Portraits of Change
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World Meteorological Day
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Sunburst at Angkor
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Whale hello there!
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A night of art and culture
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The Millennium at 20
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Moody skies over Valletta
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Meet the slowest flirt in the animal world
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Te Rewa Rewa Bridge near New Plymouth, New Zealand
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Art abounds at the Palais Garnier
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Veterans Day
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Lights, camera, Sundance
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A Portuguese fort takes a star turn
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Jazzed for Mardi Gras
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Languid life on the Lakes
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Let’s go mothing
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Installation art turns heads
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A cozy winter village
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Fire-damaged forest near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado