This is a pseudo-true color mosaic of a belt-zone boundary near Jupiter's equator. The images that make up the four quadrants of this mosaic were taken within a few minutes of each other. Galileo observes Jupiter's atmosphere in violet and near-infrared light because these wavelengths give information about composition and altitude. While these wavelenghts do not allow a true-color image to be constructed (one would need red, green and blue), a pseudo-true color image can be made. Violet light (415 nanometers) is displayed in blue and near-infrared light (757 nanometers) is displayed in red. A combination of violet and near-infrared light is displayed in green. There is unique information in color images because they simultaneously show how regions of the atmosphere interact with several different wavelengths of light. Clouds that appear white reflect light equally at the different wavelengths. Concentrations of certain chemicals or types of cloud particles give a reddish tint to other areas.
* Image and text credit - JPL
