Try to spot a dolphin swimming through a sea of Jovian clouds.

In a phenomenon called pareidolia, humans can find shapes in what is otherwise just random data. Is Flipper actually splashing across Jupiter’s atmosphere? Obviously not. But a new series of images that showcase a dolphin-shaped cloud moving across Jupiter’s southern belt is really enjoyable to look at.

Citizen-scientists Brian Swift and Sean Doran made the images using data from the JunoCam imager, an instrument on board NASA’s Juno spacecraft. On Oct. 29, the spacecraft performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter.

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If it’s quiet solitude and beauty you seek, there is no better place than the surface of Mars has earned its moniker as the red planet, but the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) can transform the subtle differences of soils into a rainbow of colours.

For 10 years, HiRISE has recorded gorgeous – and scientifically valuable – images of Mars. Its photos are so detailed that scientists can examine the planet’s features at the scale of just a few feet, including the recent crash site of Europe’s Schiaparelli Mars lander.

We combed through 2,054 of the camera’s latest pictures, released in August, September, and October, to bring you some of the best – and hopefully help you temporarily escape Earth.

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50 years of discovery — and he’s not done yet.

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The probe will seek out super-Earths.

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A mysterious white-colored plume extending some 950 miles (just over 1,500 kilometers) has been spotted on the leeward side of the Arsia Mons volcano on Mars.

Unlike other Martian cloud structures that seem to poof in and out of existence, this one has staying power, with the lengthy plume hovering near Arsia Mons since Sept. 13 and seen as recently as Nov. 12, according to the European Space Agency. The agency’s Mars Express camera has been recording images of the mountainous cloud.

“Montane clouds are very common on Mars, but it was the length of the cloud and its duration that makes it interesting,” said Francois Forget, a senior research scientist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. “Usually, it is more localized to the volcano.” [The 7 Most Mars-Like Places on Earth].

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“It could happen in a matter of months,” says Martin Mlynczak of NASA’s Langley Research Center. ________________

“The sun is entering one of the deepest Solar Minima of the Space Age,” wrote Dr Tony Phillips just six weeks ago, on 27 Sep 2018.

Sunspots have been absent for most of 2018 and Earth’s upper atmosphere is responding, says Phillips, editor of spaceweather.com.

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A look into the universe’s past may tell us where we’re going.

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If you have clear skies and are willing to brave the chilly temperatures, you might want to head to a dark site and look for a passing visitor.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen, first discovered in 1948, will have its closest encounter with Earth on Dec.16. But it’s already visible in the sky.

While this is the brightest comet of the year and the 10th closest comet in modern times, don’t expect one with a well-defined tail, a hallmark of comets.

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