Jupiter's Moons

Moons of Jupiter
photo by Glen Flanagan

The planet Jupiter with four of its moons.  The moons orbit the planet in nearly circular orbits that are seen edge-on from the Earth, so the moons appear in a line.   Here three of the four moons are on the right side of Jupiter and one is on the left side.  Because the moons are less bright than the planet, Jupiter has been purposely over-exposed so the moons could be recorded on the film.  The overexposure of the planet prevents the portrayal of the cloud bands, which would be parallel to the plane in which the four moons are located.  The photograph was taken through the Unitron refracting telescope using Tri-X film.