Nasa has unveiled the most detailed pictures of Jupiter ever taken. Researchers at the US space agency pieced together the maps from images taken as the Cassini spacecraft neared Jupiter on and December 11and 12, 2000. The pictures make up a cylinder-shaped map of the planet, as well as shots of its north and south poles. The photos were originally only in two colours, so the stunning maps were artificially coloured to show how the planet would look to the naked eye. The maps were pieced together from images taken by the Cassini probe. Thirty-six individual pictures make up the maps, which Cassini took as it passed the gas giant on its way to Saturn.

They show lots of colourful cloud features, including reddish-brown and white bands, the

Great Red Spot, complex and chaotic regions, and white ovals of gas.