Moon joy at Jupiter | Space photo of the day for May 7, 2026

Jupiter's moon Thebe, as seen by a Juno flyby on May 1, 2026. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) NASA's Juno spacecraft has snuck a peek at one of Jupiter's largest inner moons. During a close flyby, the spacecraft got a look at Jupiter's moon Thebe from just 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) away. What is it? NASA's Juno mission made a close pass of Jupiter's moon Thebe on May 1, 2026. While about 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) away from the moon, the spacecraft snapped this photo using its camera known as the Stellar Reference Unit (SRU). Jupiter has over 100 moons discovered so far and Thebe is the second largest of the planet's inner moons. Those inner moons are all smaller than the gas giant's famously huge Galilean moons — Io , Europa , Ganymede , and Callisto — which orbit farther out. The moon was first discovered in 1980 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft as it flew by Jupiter. Juno launched in 2011 to travel to, orbit around, and study Jupiter. The mission has delivered incredible images and groundbreaking data on the planet and its surrounding moons. The mission has spotted cyclones on Jupiter and watched volcanoes erupt on its moon Io. Why is it incredible? It is amazing to see such a far-off moon up close. But Juno's SRU was actually not designed to take cool photos of Jupiter's moons. The SRU is primarily intended to image star fields so Juno can navigate our solar system. …