A Survey of Hazes in the Atmosphere of Jupiter from JunoCam Imaging

Images from the Juno missions JunoCam instrument unveil a complex series of high-altitude clouds and hazes that appear to be ubiquitous at higher latitudes in Jupiters atmosphere. Junos polar orbit and JunoCams filter centered on the 889-nm absorption band of methane make JunoCam uniquely suited to observing high-altitude features at or near the poles. Among these are the North and South Polar Hoods, which JunoCams methane-band filter reveals in greater detail than from the Earth, together with bright and dark haze bands. These bright and dark bands commonly appear together in bundles, indicating vertical structure in widespread haze layers. Some bright hazes near the terminator, which we call rainbow hazes, exhibit a color dispersion, appearing bluish on the side generally in the direction of illumination and reddish on the other, an effect which is not well understood but might be explained by shadowing effects. The morphology of the observed haze bands appears largely separate from the well-known zonal wind profile affecting the main cloud deck. On the other hand, some, including a semi-persistent long band of haze near the South Pole, are related to the locations of underlying cyclones and chaotic cyclonic features known as folded filamentary regions. Our high-resolution observations of Jupiters limb have revealed hazes, some continuous with the lower atmosphere and others that are singly and doubly detached. Toward high northern latitudes, these limb hazes become opaque.