Tag: Juno
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Juno data provides insight into thickness of Europa’s surface ice sheet
Using recent data from NASA’s Juno orbiter, scientists have uncovered new details on the thickness and structure of Europa’s surface ice shell, which encases the Jovian moon’s subsurface ocean. For planetary scientists and astrobiologists, Europa’s ocean makes the moon one of the most likely places for life to exist outside of Earth. Since entering orbit…
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We’re about to find many more interstellar interlopers—here’s how to visit one
A few days ago, an inscrutable interstellar interloper made its closest approach to Mars, where a fleet of international spacecraft seek to unravel the red planet’s ancient mysteries. Several of the probes encircling Mars took a break from their usual activities and turned their cameras toward space to catch a glimpse of an object named…
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Juno reveals Io’s inner structure and volcanic activity; investigates north pole cyclones
New data from NASA’s Juno mission, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, has provided scientists with insight into the extreme winds and cyclones present within the gas giant’s atmosphere. The data allowed scientists to develop a model that better represents the fast jet stream circling Jupiter’s north pole, which is cluttered with many cyclones.…
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Juno observes lava lake on Io, provides insight into Jupiter’s water abundance
In December 2023 and February 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft, currently in orbit around and investigating Jupiter and the Jovian system, made several close flybys of the innermost of the Galilean moons, Io. During the flybys, Juno came as close as 1,500 kilometers from the surface of Io, during which extensive data and imagery of the…
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Juno measures oxygen production on Europa
Using NASA’s Juno spacecraft, scientists have calculated the rate of oxygen production on Jupiter’s moon Europa — the first time any spacecraft had directly measured charged oxygen and hydrogen particles from the moon’s atmosphere. From these measurements, the team determined the rate of oxygen production to be much lower than estimated in previous studies. Europa,…
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Daily Telescope: A stunning new image of Io reveals a volcanic plume
Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a…
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Juno makes its first ultra-close flyby of the volcano-covered moon Io
On Saturday NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter for the better part of a decade, made its closest flyby of the innermost moon in the Jovian system. The spacecraft came to within 930 miles (1,500 km) of the surface of Io, a dense moon that is the fourth largest in the Solar System.…
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Juno discovers salts and organic compounds on Ganymede’s surface
After a flyby of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, in 2021, Juno and a team of scientists have discovered the presence of mineral salts and organic compounds on the surface of the icy moon. The new findings will allow scientists to better understand where Ganymede came from and the composition of its deep subsurface ocean. For…
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New science from Juno provides insight into atmospheric processes on Jupiter
In a series of newly released papers from a science team on NASA’s Juno mission, new data is helping researchers discover how Jupiter’s atmosphere functions underneath the planet’s thick upper cloud layer. The papers were published in the journals of Geophysical Research: Planets as well as Geophysical Research Letters and shine light on the gas…
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Five years on, Juno science reveals answers to zodiacal lights, Jovian auroras
Juno, NASA’s flagship mission to Jupiter, marks five years at the solar system’s largest planet today, having been in space for nearly 10 years since its launch. Juno quickly became one of NASA’s most scientifically important missions upon its arrival, with its Ultraviolet Spectrograph and Advanced Stellar Compass instruments used to reveal many unique scientific…