Bonus coverage: Scientists are still making discoveries about Jupiter's rings from images taken by the Galileo spacecraft before it plunged into the giant planet in 2003. The grains that make up the rings are extremely tiny--about the same sized as particles in cigarette smoke, according to Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
While studying the ring closest to the moon Thebe, scientists discovered that it was affected by the dark side of the planet. "We found that Jupiter's shadow plays an important role in shaping the ring," said Douglas Hamilton from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Caption by
Andy Smith
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