NASA's Juno Captures Stunning New Image Of Jupiter's 'Dramatic' Swirling Clouds [PHOTO]

NASA has released a new image taken by the Juno spacecraft of Jupiter's "dramatic" atmosphere.

On its official Twitter, NASA's Juno mission shared an image of Jupiter's stunning swirling clouds that was taken during the spacecraft's latest flyby of the planet. The photo shows atmospheric activity above Jupiter's northern hemisphere, according to NASA's website. Near the middle is a circular feature within a jet stream region called "Jet N6."

According to NASA, the Juno spacecraft captured this latest image of Jupiter during its 18th close flyby of the planet on Feb. 12 at 9:20 a.m. PST (12:20 p.m. EST). The photo was taken from a distance of about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) from Jupiter's cloud tops, above a latitude of approximately 55 degrees north.

Using data from the probe's JunoCam imager, citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill created the mesmerizing color-enhanced image of the gas giant's atmosphere. The final photo has been rotated about 100 degrees to the right. Check out more images from the Juno spacecraft here.

Meanwhile, NASA is planning to launch another spacecraft, though this one will focus its efforts on Jupiter's moon, Europa. The Europa Clipper will begin its journey in 2023 and make 40 close flybys of the mysterious icy moon. The probe is set to gather data about Europa's composition, geology and subsurface oceans.

Robert Pappalardo, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and project scientist for the mission, told Space.com that the Europa Clipper will help us unlock the mysteries hidden in the icy moon and determine if it is capable of hosting life.

"Europa we don't really get — there are these really key mysteries we're trying to understand," Pappalardo said. "[Europa Clipper] is going to tell us so much about how icy moons work … and icy moons are probably the most common habitable environments in the universe, so that's exciting."

Scientists believe that icy moons could host life beneath its surface where there is liquid water. Microorganisms could also survive from the chemicals released by geologic activity on the seafloor and would be protected from radiation by the thick ice. "People care about it, people want to know about this mysterious world that might harbor life," Pappalardo said.