Although the dimensions of Amalthea are quite ordinary. Its long axis extends up to 250 kilometers, while its narrowest point extends up to only 128 kilometers. Scientists believe that this moon of Jupiter looks like a potato and is more like a pile of debris rather than solid rock.
Juno spacecraft captured Amalthea on March 7. Then it was passing close to Jupiter for the 59th time. It can be seen in the picture that Jupiter’s moon appears just like a black dot in front of it. According to the report, Amalthea was about 1 lakh 81 thousand km above the clouds of Jupiter.
The Great Red Spot, near which it was spotted, is a huge anticyclonic storm present on Jupiter and occupies an area of 12,500 km. Amalthea revolves around Jupiter very fast. It takes just 0.5 Earth days to rotate once around our planet.
Scientists consider it mysterious
Scientists consider Amalthea mysterious. They feel that this Moon emits more heat than it receives from the Sun. It is not yet known where that heat is coming from. One theory is that the heat comes directly and indirectly from Jupiter.