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Conrad Duncan
Apr 19, 2019

Picture:
Getty Images/Twitter
The beauty of space is one of the most life-affirming things in the world.
And when Nasa released a stunning set of images from Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, taken by their Juno mission, everyone was in awe.
But some people couldn't help notice that the images looked like something else.
We’ll let you guess what it is first...
Spot spotted! #JunoCam raw images from my #Jupiter #GreatRedSpot flyby are available now. Download, process + share… https://t.co/gANviQXTJo— NASA's Juno Mission (@NASA's Juno Mission) 1499873056
If you still haven’t got it, you’re probably not going to like the answer.
Shame they look like sanitary towels https://t.co/aYrSy48ae3— Felicity Morse (@Felicity Morse) 1499953038
Sorry…
Oh shit, turns out Jupiter is some old sanitary towel just a-floating around in space. https://t.co/cJUMOi9yW3— Tom Chaplin (@Tom Chaplin) 1499882455
It really isn't any smarter than that.
That’s probably not the response Nasa was hoping for.
If you’re wondering why Nasa would release an image that obviously looks like a sanitary towel, you’re not alone.
@NASAJuno Maybe a stupid question, but I'll stick my neck out. Why is the image shaped like that?— Tricky ✊🏾✊🏻✊#FBPE (@Tricky ✊🏾✊🏻✊#FBPE) 1499873269
The reason is that each picture is actually a composite of multiple images taken by the Juno camera and because the distance between Juno and Jupiter is not constant, you get that shape.
@jtskowronek @EstragonHelmer @Tricky_1 @NASAJuno The distance between Juno and Jupiter is not constant, so neither… https://t.co/99oRYjKxRC— Adrien Coffinet (@Adrien Coffinet) 1499951200
Thankfully, there were some people who managed to focus on the beauty of the image.
@NASAJuno @HakeemOluseyi What an amazing time to be alive. These are absolutely incredible— Garth Garrett (@Garth Garrett) 1499874186
This is most importantly an amazing scientific achievement and we shouldn't forget that.
But yes, it does look a lot like a sanitary towel.
HT: IFLScience
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