Jupiter, fifth planet from the sun and named for the king of the Roman Gods, is in the news. It is a gas giant, primarily composed of hydrogen, with a quarter of its mass being helium. It may also have a rocky core, but lacks a well-defined solid surface. The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries.
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Jupiter was recognized in ancient times, and a giant storm known as the Great Red Spot has existed at least since the 17th century when it was first seen through a telescope. This planet has more than 60 moons, the largest among them are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
The one billion dollar Juno probe program launched a probe on August 5, 2011. Its trajectory used a gravity speed boost from Earth, accomplished by an Earth flyby in October of 2013, to reach Jupiter, and arrived in Jupiter orbit on July 5, 2016, where it performed an orbital insertion burn slow enough to allow it to be captured by the planet. The spacecraft traveled a total distance of roughly 2.8 billion kilometers (1.74 billion miles). On board the probe are instruments that allow it to map Jupiter’s gravity fields, investigate the composition of its atmosphere and monitor the planet’s auroras, among other tasks.
The probe fully orbits Jupiter once every 53 days and ventures as close as 2,600 miles to the planet’s surface. Its current mission is slated to continue through July, but scientists may propose to extend it at that time.
“Juno is providing spectacular results, and we are rewriting our ideas of how giant planets work,” Scott Bolton, a principal investigator on the Juno program, said in a statement last February.
Two citizen scientists, Gerald Eichstadt and Sean Doran, have enhanced the images from the probe by manipulation the color and contrast. This is something encouraged by NASA’s JunoCam project because even though Juno’s abilities are literally out of this world, the images transmitted by the craft still don’t do the planet justice.
As a result the pictures of Jupiter are spectacular. Here are a few:
After its final trip around Jupiter, the probe will enter what NASA euphemistically calls its “deorbit phase,” in which Juno will spend the last five plus days of its existence hurling itself into Jupiter. The planet’s atmosphere is so harsh, the spacecraft will burn up. This is being done because NASA and its Office of Planetary Protection have strict rules about contaminating space, especially if it involves places where we would look for life.
One of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, is thought to be one of the best sites for finding living organisms beyond Earth, because there may be an ocean beneath its frozen surface. NASA is currently working on how to send a lander to Europa. Two other Jovian moons, Ganymede and Callisto, are also on the list of contenders.
Our thanks are due to the patient team who set this project on its way!
Wonderful, thank you for sharing 😊
You’re welcome. The colors and imagery just blew me away!
What blows my mind, Noelle, is that there are billions of such places in the universe – each unique with its own story. In fact, it doesn’t blow my mind, it’s utterly ungraspable! Thanks for the sharing of this. It’s wonderful.
Can’t wait for the results of the next probe. I am so curious about Europa!
Funny, yours is the second blog post this week that refers to Jupiter. Thanks for the great info and pictures.
Jupiter was in the news this week – I think because the probe is coming to its end. Glad you enjoyed this!
Fascinating, Noelle. The images are wonderful too. Hugs.
They could be paintings in a gallery, Teagan. Wouldn’t you like those swirls on your wall? Nature is the greatest artist!
Absolutely fascinating. And mindboggling – literally beyond my ability to fully comprehend.
I think you need to be an astrophysicist to ‘get it.’ But I love anything that stirs the imagination! Humans are indeed curious about everything…
I had to laugh at the fact that we don’t want to litter outer space with junk probes, so let’s just crash it into someone’s backyard on Jupiter!
No problem with the crash – it will be totally incinerated on entry! But a funny thought!
Those photos are stunning! Thanks for sharing. This was a great, informative, and intriguing post!
Thanks, MC. I was blown away by the photos myself. There’s so much ‘out there’ to learn about!
I agree. I love thinking about those things!
Stuff like this absolutely fascinates me!! I actually started out in college with an astronomy major before switching to computer science, then ultimately settled on journalism. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this!
Wow! That’s quite a transition! Of course I was going to major in French and be a translator at the UN – and ended up a researcher. Go figure. Glad you enjoyed this. I may do another post about an apparent asteroid that visited our solar system recently.
What’s scary is that we might be living there someday, after we blow up our planet.
We won;t be living on Jupiter – the surface isn’t solid! But Europa looks good, as do Ganymede and Callisto. Neat, huh?
Wonderful post… Really enjoyed this one.
Thanks! I’m a little eclectic with my blog posts – a little of this, a little of that whatever piques my interest!
That is all about a blog… I appreciate your hard work. Keep it up.
Thank you! I have to work it in around my books!
These pictures are great – they make you wonder what it all means, don’t they?
There’s so much wonder in the universe, from the smallest subatomic particles to the stars and planets! Can’t cram it all in my head!
Oh same here!
Just amazing, Noelle, the images … that last one, close up, looks like a piece of art. A detailed painting. And I agree with Bruce above … so many such planets we know little to nothing about, yet they are out there. Certainly stirs the imagination, even if there is so much we don’t get.
Thank you for sharing this.
You’re welcome, Sylvia. I’ve been enthralled by the pictures from the Hubble telescope – but these are even more thrilling.
I really want to see pictures of Europa, since that moon may be a spot for a colony!
Those pictures are fabulous aren’t they? I hadn’t realised the red spot had been spotted so long ago either. Love anything space related!
I’ll have to do more posts on our solar system. I started getting NASA updates on my phone, which turned me on to looking at the latest. The red spot is a storm – apparently one that has lasted for years and years and years!