RocketSTEM Issue #11 - April 2015 | Page 106

Jupiter and its shrunken 59. Red Spot Great This full-disc image of Jupiter was taken on 21 April 2014 with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) Variable 60. star RS Puppis This Hubble image shows RS Puppis, a type of variable star known as a Cepheid variable. As variable stars go, Cepheids have comparatively long periods — RS Puppis, for example, varies in brightness by almost a factor of five every 40 or so days. RS Puppis is unusual; this variable star is shrouded by thick, dark clouds of dust enabling a phenomenon known as a light echo to be shown with stunning clarity. These Hubble observations show the ethereal object embedded in its dusty environment, set against a dark sky filled with background galaxies. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-Hubble/ Europe Collaboration