SliceJupiterfrom pole to pole, peel back its outer layer of clouds,stretch them onto a flat surface ... and for all yourtrouble you'd end up with something that looks a lot like this.Scrolling right will reveal the full picture a color mosaic o Jupiterfrom the Cassini spacecraft.The mosaic is actually a single frame from a fourteen framemovie constructed from image data recorded by Cassiniduring it leisurelyflyby of the solar system's largestplanet in late 2000 Theengaging movie approximatesJupiter's cloud motions over 24 jovian rotations.To make it, a series of observations coveringJupiter's complete circumference60 degrees north and southof the equator were combined in an animate cylindricalprojection map of the planet.As in the familiar rectangular-shaped wall maps of th Earth's surface, therelative sizes and shapes of features arecorrect near the equator but become progressively more distortedapproaching the polar regions.In the Cassini movie, which also features guest appearancesby moons Io an Europa, the smallest cloud structuresvisible at the equator are about 600 kilometers across.
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