Hubbles captures triple solar eclipse on Jupiter

Three of Jupiter's four great moons crossed its sunny side in January That's rare; it has happened only twice in the last 15 years Hubble's images are primarily for aesthetic purposes, a gift to the public Galileo Galilei spotted Jupiter's four great moons in 1610: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.  The Hubble space telescope peers hundreds,
thousands, millions of light-years into the universe to study novas, quasars and nebulas. But weeks ago, it pulled its focus way in close -- to just light-minutes away -- to view a rare and beautiful spectacle at the planet Jupiter. Three big moons crossed past it at the same time, casting their shadows onto Jupiter's swirling surface. From the perspective of people theoretically standing on Jupiter, it would be like three solar eclipses happening at once, astronomers said. A photo gift
In the last 15 years, this has happened only twice, the Space Telescope Science Institute said. "The next one will
be 2032," said astronomer Carol Christian. So, Hubble shot photos rapid fire to capture the rare conjunction in late January. And STScI published them
Thursday , along with a short fast-motion video animation. There was no great scientific gain in Hubble taking the
snaps. The moons and their crossings have been examined plenty and are well known. "We felt that there are images which have aesthetic value
above and beyond their scientific value," said astronomer Zolt Levy. It was a gift of beauty to the public.