Skip to content
paintcolorkeColour for every idea My projects

Jupiter Colours & Palettes

Planets · Planet

Jupiter’s belts and zones are some of the richest colours in the Solar System. Compare Hubble’s portrait, Cassini’s true-colour globe and the global map on a 3D sphere.

Jupiter: Cassini colour map of Jupiter
Cassini colour map of Jupiter Approximate visible appearance
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. Cassini ISS narrow-angle camera · December 2000

About Jupiter

Jupiter, the largest planet, is a gas giant whose stripes are cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Dark orange belts and lighter zones flow in opposite directions.

NASA notes the vivid colours may come from plumes of sulfur- and phosphorus-containing gases rising from the warmer interior.

Facts, with what each measures
ClassificationPlanet
OrbitsSun
Diameter142,984 kmequatorial diameter · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Orbital period4,331 daysorbital period around the Sun · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Rotation period9.90 hourssidereal rotation period (negative: retrograde) · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Length of day9.90 hourslength of a solar day · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Axial tilt3.10°obliquity to orbit (axial tilt) · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Mean temperature-110 °Cmean temperature as defined by the NASA fact sheet (surface or 1-bar level); not comparable with stellar temperatures · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Known moons95number of known moons on the access date · as listed on 2026-10-25 · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
Ring systemYeshas a ring system · NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive

Why these colours?

Belts and zones

Hubble’s 2019 portrait uses three narrow visible filters and shows intense oranges and creams around the Great Red Spot.

From: Hubble OPAL portrait, 27 June 2019 Visible-light composite

Closer to the eye

Cassini’s map was made from blue and near-infrared images, yet NASA says its colours are close to what the eye would see: paler and greyer than many enhanced portraits.

From: Cassini colour map of Jupiter Approximate visible appearance

Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.

Colours from selected views

Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Jupiter.

Hubble OPAL portrait, 27 June 2019

Sampled from this image · Hubble OPAL portrait, 27 June 2019

  • #AFA089RGB 175, 160, 137region average
  • #CDB596RGB 205, 181, 15023% of the region
  • #E4DABDRGB 228, 218, 18922% of the region
  • #A7947CRGB 167, 148, 12420% of the region
  • #45443CRGB 69, 68, 6014% of the region
  • #786A58RGB 120, 106, 8814% of the region
  • #191D1BRGB 25, 29, 277% of the region
See where these colours came from
Hubble OPAL portrait, 27 June 2019
  • View: Hubble OPAL portrait, 27 June 2019 (Visible-light composite)
  • Image file: img/hubble-heic1914a.jpg, sha256 414278f94ba47c74…
  • Region: x 13.2%, y 15.3%, 72.3% × 72.9% of the image. Region: bounding box of the object; sky pixels darker than OKLab L 0.10 excluded.
  • Method: k-means clustering in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1; colours measured from the published file.

Cassini true-colour simulated globe, December 2000

Sampled from this image · Cassini true-colour simulated globe, December 2000

  • #7C797ARGB 124, 121, 122region average
  • #7E7874RGB 126, 120, 11623% of the region
  • #9A9696RGB 154, 150, 15021% of the region
  • #605A57RGB 96, 90, 8719% of the region
  • #413C39RGB 65, 60, 5717% of the region
  • #B3B7C1RGB 179, 183, 19311% of the region
  • #1C1A18RGB 28, 26, 249% of the region
See where these colours came from
Cassini true-colour simulated globe, December 2000
  • View: Cassini true-colour simulated globe, December 2000 (Approximate visible appearance)
  • Image file: img/nasa-pia02873.jpg, sha256 114ab7f4f401533f…
  • Region: x 24%, y 4.3%, 54.3% × 92.7% of the image. Region: bounding box of the object; sky pixels darker than OKLab L 0.10 excluded.
  • Method: k-means clustering in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1; colours measured from the published file.

Cassini colour map of Jupiter

Sampled from this image · Cassini colour map of Jupiter

  • #9D9B96RGB 157, 155, 150region average
  • #87837ARGB 135, 131, 12223% of the region
  • #A49F96RGB 164, 159, 15019% of the region
  • #979086RGB 151, 144, 13419% of the region
  • #7C786ERGB 124, 120, 11017% of the region
  • #C8D1D6RGB 200, 209, 21411% of the region
  • #B9B8B5RGB 185, 184, 18111% of the region
See where these colours came from
Cassini colour map of Jupiter
  • View: Cassini colour map of Jupiter (Approximate visible appearance)
  • Image file: img/nasa-pia07782.jpg, sha256 ad13e2aac8d70d19…
  • Region: x 0%, y 0%, 100% × 100% of the image. Whole map; pure black and pure white pixels treated as no-data fill and excluded.
  • Method: k-means clustering in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1; colours measured from the published file.

Creative palettes inspired by Jupiter

A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.

Jovian Bands

Inspired by this object

  • #D8B27FRGB 216, 178, 127from #CDB596
  • #EADAAARGB 234, 218, 170from #E4DABD
  • #B0926ARGB 176, 146, 106from #A7947C
  • #464437RGB 70, 68, 55from #45443C
  • #7F684BRGB 127, 104, 75from #786A58
  • #171E1ARGB 23, 30, 26from #191D1B

Hubble’s belt colours with more saturation, for a bold palette.

Explore the views and the 3D model

Jupiter: Cassini colour map of Jupiter
Built from 36 Cassini images taken on 11–12 December 2000. NASA says that although the raw images are in only two colours, 451 nm blue and 750 nm near-infrared, the map’s colours are close to those the human eye would see. Synthesised from two filters, one near-infrared. Assembled map; lighting evened out across the planet.

Sphere with a global map A sphere carrying a global map; the shape is a sphere, not a measured shape, and the map’s own coverage gaps are shown as they are. Objects are enlarged or scaled for inspection unless stated otherwise.

Use these colours

Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.

Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.

Questions about Jupiter’s colours

Why do Jupiter images look so different?

Filters, processing and contrast differ. Hubble’s portrait is more intense than Cassini’s true-colour map; both are labelled with how they were made.

Sources

Image credits

  • Hubble OPAL portrait, 27 June 2019: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley). CC BY 4.0. Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 ba9c957bf43a1df19e669bda840ebd68764083a42774c5e78fd659b737b2eb03).
  • Cassini true-colour simulated globe, December 2000: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona. NASA media (not copyrighted; see the NASA image and media guidelines). Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 2b754a3a2566400da1bb268e98d087dd42a4b04bfe9374db090886d8e959f133).
  • Cassini colour map of Jupiter: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. NASA media (not copyrighted; see the NASA image and media guidelines). Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 337781c2ca209f62b209b34b9a6646f7d3cf30d3d1c8e8a3f9ed13e3554d389f).

Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision 223c395b0092. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.

More planets · View Jupiter in the universe map