Dazzling close-up portrait of Jupiter! On April 3, as Jupiter made its nearest approach to Earth in a year, our Hubble Space Telescope viewed the solar system's largest planet in all of its up-close glory. At a distance of 415 million miles (668 million kilometers) from Earth, Jupiter offered spectacular views of its colorful, roiling atmosphere, the legendary Great Red Spot, and it smaller companion at farther southern latitudes dubbed "Red Spot Jr." The giant planet is now at "opposition," positioned directly opposite the sun from the Earth. This means that the sun, Earth and Jupiter line up, with Earth sitting between the sun and the gas giant. Opposition also marks Jupiter's closest point to us, and the planet appears brighter in the night sky than at any other time in the year. Hubble reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiter's clouds as arranged into bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. These bands are produced by air flowing in different directions a...