The swirling storms of Jupiter writhe and churn while little Europa sails by in this dramatic photo from Cassini, taken on January 2, 2001 and retouched and edited to show natural colors by the talented Gordan Ugarkovic.

Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot is featured prominently here. It is an enormous hurricane that has been spinning for at least 300 years with winds estimated in the hundreds of miles per hour. It is large enough to cover two or three Earths.

Jupiter itself has more than two times more mass than all of the other planets combined. It truly is a giant, and is often visible in the night sky as one of the brightest stars. Four of its 63 moons – Europa being one of them – are easily seen with a pair of binoculars or small ‘scope on a tripod. Its banded atmosphere and powerful storms are some of the most amazing sights in the solar system.

Europa is significant in that it is a place scientists believe a liquid water ocean may be found, lying beneath a thin shell of ice. If so, it raises the possibility of finding life of some sort having evolved there, entirely isolated from Earth. Future robotic missions to Europa are being planned to investigate this exciting prospect.

Image Credit NASA / JPL / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic, used with permission (thanks Gordan!).