Tag: Jupiter
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Juno team planning close flybys of Jupiter’s moons
The puzzling, fascinating surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view, made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute NASA’s Juno spacecraft could perform the first close flybys since the early 2000s of three of Jupiter’s largest moons, including Europa, if the space…
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Jupiter looms large in spectacular Hubble image
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of Jupiter and its icy moon Europa on Aug. 25. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M. H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL team The Hubble Space Telescope turned toward Jupiter last month, capturing colorful views of the giant planet and…
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Juno and the case of Jupiter’s missing ammonia
NASA’s Juno spacecraft, the agency’s flagship mission to Jupiter, continues to stream back an incredible amount of scientific data about the largest planet in our solar system just over four years after arriving in orbit. Some of the most recent discoveries pertain to lightning in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, called “shallow lightning,” as well as indications…
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NASA to assess proposals for probes to Venus, moons of Jupiter and Neptune
Artist’s concept of the solar system. Credit: NASA NASA announced Thursday it will fund four concept studies for potential robotic missions to Venus, Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton ahead of a decision next year to approve up to two of the projects for launch in the mid-to-late 2020s. The space agency chose the…
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NASA’s Juno spacecraft sees moon’s otherworldly shadow on Jupiter
The shadow of Jupiter’s moon Io is cast on the cloud tops of the giant planet in this view taken Sept. 12 by a camera on-board NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Kevin Gill, a software engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created this mosaic from imagery taken by the JunoCam instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill Fresh images…
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Ho, ho, Juno! NASA orbiter delivers lots of holiday goodies from Jupiter’s north pole
Enhanced images from NASA’s Juno orbiter show cloud patterns on Jupiter (NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Brian Swift / Seán Doran Photos) Santa Claus isn’t the only one bearing gifts from the north pole at this time of year. NASA’s Juno orbiter also delivered a sackful of presents over…
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Juno orbiter’s view of a beautiful brownish spot on Jupiter sparks a bit of potty humor
This cloud formation on Jupiter is called “Mr. Hankey.” (NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill) Jupiter’s titanic storms have spawned their share of memorable cloud features, including the Great Red Spot, Oval BA (a.k.a. Red Jr.) and the now-defunct Baby Red Spot. Now there’s a new spot on the map,…
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Enjoy July’s gems from Juno at Jupiter
Jupiter’s clouds swirl in a view captured by NASA’s Juno orbiter during Perijove 14. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Seán Doran) NASA’s Juno orbiter made another close pass of Jupiter this week, and that means there’s another crop of stunning pictures embellished by legions of citizen scientists. Every 53…
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Discoveries boost Jupiter’s retinue to 79 moons — including a wrong-way oddball
The oddball Jovian moon, known as Valetudo, crosses the orbits of moons that move in the opposite direction. Click on the image for a larger version. (Carnegie Institution of Science / Roberto Molar Candanosa) Astronomers searching for signs of a hypothetical “Planet Nine” have instead come up with 12 new moons of Jupiter, including one…
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NASA approves three-year extension for Juno mission orbiting Jupiter
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe’s engine prevented it from dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the…