In these photographs released by NASA September 9, 2010, a fleeting bright dot on each of these images of Jupiter marks a small comet or asteroid burning up in the atmosphere.
On Earth, atmospheric methane is generated by living organisms, but on Jupiter and other gas giants, methane is produced by light interacting with other chemicals in the atmosphere.
Once it reaches Jupiter, Juno will orbit the planet's pole taking measurements that will provide insight into Jupiter's origin, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.