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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Ganymede and Jupiter Global Voyager 2 Mosaic

Ganymede and Jupiter Global Voyager 2 Mosaic
Ganymede and Jupiter Global Voyager 2 Mosaic The images for this composite were taken over a period of 4 hours on 8 July 1979 through orange, green, and blue or violet filters. Because of the long time span and Jupiter's rapid (10-hour) rotation, the cloud positions don't represent any real instantaneous view of Jupiter. Ganymede's shadow falls on the disk of Jupiter. Ganymede was actually much farther from Jupiter as seen by Voyager 2 during this observation; the distance between the two worlds has been reduced for aesthetic expediency. Voyage 2 was about 1.5 million kilometers away from Jupiter during this observation, but only 430,000 kilometers from Ganymede, which is why Ganymede appears so much larger than its shadow. NASA / JPL / Ian Regan

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