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jupiter aurorae

Nosotros've all seen images of Jupiter enough to pick information technology out of a planetary lineup — information technology'south the big one with the wavy clouds and a large red spot. NASA'south Juno probe reached the planet several weeks ago, and has only sent dorsum its first close-up photos. They reveal a planet that looks very different from the one nosotros've seen so far. It'south the aforementioned Jupiter, of form, but seen from completely new angles.

Juno was launched in the summer of 2022 and took most five years to attain Jupiter. The harsh radiations emanating from the gas giant could exist harmful to the probe's systems over long periods, and then Juno is in a highly elliptical polar orbit. This allows the spacecraft to spend equally petty time as possible in the planet's heavy radiation belts. The polar orbit also lets Juno spy on different areas of the planet on each orbit as information technology rotates.

Juno's eccentric orbit means that it simply but fabricated its first low pass over Jupiter afterward reaching the planet on July 4th. That'south why in that location'due south been relatively little news on the mission in recent weeks. In the paradigm higher up, Juno caught a glimpse of Jupiter'south southern aurorae in infrared using the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) photographic camera. Scientists have never seen them from this bending, and certainly not and then close up.

Beneath, yous can see a visual spectrum image of Jupiter's north polar region with storms and cloud formations dissimilar anything else in the solar system. The north pole appears to lack the striated belts of clouds seen at lower latitudes. Instead, there's a sea of giant cyclones. One matter scientists were interested to run across Jupiter does not have is a hexagonal cloud formation at the north pole. That'due south a very prominent feature on Saturn. Juno did, all the same, pick up radio emissions from Jupiter'south northern polar aurorae, which scientists hope can help united states sympathize what makes them so massive.

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The photo above was captured from an distance of 120,000 miles, but Juno got as close equally 2,500 miles during this beginning pass. Information technology sent dorsum 6MB of data over the class of its six-hour transit. Later this year, Juno volition utilise its engines to reduce the eccentricity of its orbit, bringing the orbital period to but 14 days. It will too get as low every bit one,200 miles in a higher place the cloud tops. Its 37 planned orbits should be finished in another eighteen months, at which fourth dimension NASA will let the probe drop into the Jovian atmosphere.