Distant NASA spacecraft snaps stunning images of Jupiter and its moons

NASA's Juno has flown around the gas giant Jupiter dozens of times.

The planet's swirling clouds and two of its large moons, Io and Europa, were captured by the spacecraft on its recent 39th flight. There are two moons to the right of Jupiter.

• Io is larger than Europa. It is the most volcanically active place in our solar system, with lakes of lava on its surface.

• It appears that Europa is to the right of Io. NASA says thatEuropa may be the most promising place in our solar system to find environments suitable for some form of life beyond Earth.

NASA's Juno spacecraft captures Jupiter with two of its large moons, Io (on left) and Europa (on right). Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Image processing by AndreaLuck CC BY­­

For reference, the International Space Station is 255,000 miles above Earth. The closest fly-by of the moon in decades will take place in September 2022.

We will learn a lot more about this Jovian satellite in the coming years. The probe will sweep close to the moon several times in the years to come.

NASA says that it will investigate whether the icy moon of Jupiter could harbor conditions suitable for life.