Juno

Through a meticulously planned orbit, NASA's Juno probe has now circled Jupiter and evaded its harmful radiation for more than four months, but just as the spacecraft was to swing in for a closer look, an unexpected engine complication has resulted in a first, and hopefully minor, setback.​​

NASA has provided the first close-up and personal view of Jupiter's north pole with the release of images from the Juno orbiter's close encounter with the gas giant. Data returned by the unmanned spacecraft has already thrown up a few surprises.

NASA's Juno orbiter has made its first and nearest orbital flyby of Jupiter, snapping the closest close-up ever​ of giant planet's north pole. NASA expects to release some of the images it captured over the next two weeks.​

​​NASA's Juno spacecraft is set for a close encounter with one of the most visually striking, and enigmatic bodies in our solar system – the planet Jupiter.

Now that Juno has entered into orbit around Jupiter, what better time to take a closer look at what, precisely, Juno will be able to tell us about the largest planet in our solar system?

Like any good tourist, NASA's Juno deep-space probe is sending snapshots to the folks back home. It's the first image from Jupiter since the spacecraft's dramatic arrival around the planet on July 4 and shows Jupiter and three of its four largest moons.

​Jupiter got a little less lonely today as NASA's Juno deep-space probe arrived after a five-year journey capped by a dramatic engine maneuver that placed it in orbit around the Solar System's largest planet for a 20-month science mission.​

In preparation for the Juno spacecraft's imminent arrival at Jupiter, astronomers have been training their telescopes on the planet – and Hubble just caught a beautiful electric-blue light show at the planet's north pole.​

Like any tourist, Juno is sending back snaps of its journey. The unmanned spacecraft was 6.8 million mi (10.9 million km) from Jupiter when it captured an image of the banded giant planet and its four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

To help map Jupiter before the arrival of the Juno spacecraft, the ESO has used an instrument on its Very Large Telescope to create a stunning image of the solar system's largest planet. To bring the image to life, the space agency relied on a technique known as "lucky imaging."​

On July 4, the Juno deep space probe becomes just the second spacecraft in history to orbit Jupiter. What will be found remains to be seen, but if history is any indicator, it's likely to be very unexpected.​

​NASA's Juno spacecraft has successfully completed a maneuver designed to fine tune its orbit around the Sun, preparing it for its rendezvous with Jupiter in just over five months' time.