PHOENIX (AZFamille) — The Juno space probe has been circling Jupiter for some time now and has collected some of the most stunning images of the solar system’s largest planet.

Juno has just completed its 66th trip around Jupiter. The latest batch of photos released have been processed by “citizen scientists” to bring out the highest resolution images we’ve seen of the giant planet.

The idea is to bring out and highlight the colors and details. Just because of the proximity of Juno to Jupiterthe images have been looking great for years. But some people are calling this latest batch “mind-blowing.” And they sure are amazing.

They show that Jupiter’s atmosphere is even more turbulent than previously thought. New data suggests that the planet’s core is not solid and is much larger than initially proposed. We also observed that the red spot that Jupiter is so famous for is decreasing in size.

The Juno space probe, which was only expected to operate until 2017, will continue its work until 2025, when it will eventually fall into Jupiter’s atmosphere and burn up.

The self-destruct maneuver will ensure that any microbes that may have hitched a ride to Juno from Earth are destroyed and spread to a potential new home. This sounds a bit like the fictional “Prime Directive” from Star Trek.

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