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NASA'S SHOCK SNAPS

Scientists amazed as ‘jaw-dropping’ new snaps of Jupiter give glimpse of planet’s stunning aurora and pole that’s like ‘nothing they’ve ever seen’

The £800m probe reveals giant planet's very own version of the Southern Lights

composite Jupiter

THESE are the "jaw-dropping" new images of Jupiter taken by Nasa's Juno probe.

The pictures are the clearest shots ever taken of our solar system's largest planet.

And they even revealed Jupiter's very own version of the Northern Lights.

They were taken as the £800million probe whizzed just 2,500 miles above the surface of the planet.

The Juno probe has captured a series of stunning snaps documenting the surface of Jupiter
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The Juno probe has captured a series of stunning snaps documenting the surface of JupiterCredit: PA:Press Association
The £800million probe moved to within 2,500 miles of the Solar System's largest planet to capture the images
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The £800million probe moved to within 2,500 miles of the Solar System's largest planet to capture the imagesCredit: NASA / HANDOUT
One stunning picture caught an infrared still of Jupiter's southern aurora - a version of Earth's Northern Lights
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One stunning picture caught an infrared still of Jupiter's southern aurora - a version of Earth's Southern LightsCredit: AP:Associated Press

Remarkably, Juno - which was launched almost exactly five years ago - was able to send six megabytes of data back through 365 MILLION MILES of space.

Scott Bolton of America's space agency said: "First glimpse of Jupiter's north pole, and it looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before.

"It's bluer in colour up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms.

"There is no sign of the latitudinal bands or zones and belts that we are used to - this image is hardly recognisable as Jupiter.

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"We're seeing signs that the clouds have shadows, possibly indicating that the clouds are at a higher altitude than other features."

One member of the Juno team is Jonathan Nichols, a researcher from the University of Leicester.

He told the : "The team's reaction was amazement. 'Look at these images - they are coming from Jupiter, we're flying over the pole for the first time!'

"It's just jaw-dropping."

The Juno probe was launched back in August 2011 by American space agency Nasa
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The Juno probe was launched back in August 2011 by American space agency NasaCredit: AP:Associated Press
And experts admitted the images it relayed are "jaw-dropping" and will provide answers to many unanswered questions
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And experts admitted the images it relayed are "jaw-dropping" and will provide answers to many unanswered questionsCredit: Getty Images
An artist's impression of NASA's Juno spacecraft making one of its close passes over Jupiter
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An artist's impression of NASA's Juno spacecraft making one of its close passes over JupiterCredit: NASA

He had earlier said: “This is our first opportunity to really take a close-up look at the king of our solar system and begin to figure out how he works."

Among the most breathtaking of the shot was an infrared image of the planet's southern aurora - Jupiter's version of the Northern Lights.

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