{"id":12945,"date":"2019-09-18T19:09:02","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T11:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-sees-moons-otherworldly-shadow-on-jupiter\/"},"modified":"2019-09-18T19:09:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T11:09:02","slug":"nasas-juno-spacecraft-sees-moons-otherworldly-shadow-on-jupiter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-sees-moons-otherworldly-shadow-on-jupiter\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft sees moon\u2019s otherworldly shadow on Jupiter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The shadow of Jupiter\u2019s moon Io is cast on the cloud tops of the giant planet in this view taken Sept. 12 by a camera on-board NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft. Kevin Gill, a software engineer at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created this mosaic from imagery taken by the JunoCam instrument. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS\/Kevin M. Gill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fresh images from NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft show an ethereal shadow cast by Jupiter\u2019s volcanic moon Io on the planet\u2019s swirling cloud tops.<\/p>\n

The JunoCam imager captured views of Io\u2019s distinct shadow on Jupiter during its most recent passage near the giant planet, and skilled amateur image analysts immediately set to work processing the data into dazzling renderings showing a black circle amid Jupiter\u2019s churning clouds.<\/p>\n

Juno spotted the eclipse during a Sept. 12 encounter near Jupiter, the 22nd such flyby since arriving in orbit around the solar system\u2019s largest planet on July 4, 2016. The spacecraft carries instruments to study Jupiter\u2019s internal structure and weather, along with sensors to measure and map the planet\u2019s strong magnetic field and gravity.<\/p>\n

Io is the most volcanically active object in the solar system. Scientists have found hundreds of volcanoes on Io, many of them launching fountains of lava and gas hundreds of miles above the moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

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NASA\u2019s New Horizons spacecraft recorded this view of Jupiter\u2019s moon Io, and one of its erupting volcanoes, during an encounter with Jupiter in 2007 on the way to Pluto. Credit: NASA\/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory\/Southwest Research Institute\/Goddard Space Flight Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The volcanoes are caused by the immense pull of gravity from Jupiter, coupled with the weaker influence of gravity from Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa. The gravitational forces tug on Io\u2019s interior, shifting the rocky material inside the moon and generating heat from friction.<\/p>\n

The super-heated molten rock, or magma, erupts through numerous geyser-like volcanoes, generating prominent plumes that reach far above Io. Jupiter\u2019s volcanic moon is also covered in lava lakes, and has a thin atmosphere of sulfur dioxide, a gas emitted by volcanic eruptions.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft is circling Jupiter in an elliptical 53-day orbit, with a low point positioned roughly 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) above the planet\u2019s cloud tops.<\/p>\n

The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft is healthy, and all its instruments are operational, said Scott Bolton, the Juno mission\u2019s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, during a presentation last month to NASA\u2019s Outer Planets Assessment Group.<\/p>\n

Juno\u2019s instruments have peered beneath Jupiter\u2019s clouds to study the planet\u2019s internal weather patterns.<\/p>\n

Data from Juno indicate Jupiter has a fuzzy, ill-defined core that is much bigger than anticipated. The discovery has led scientists to suggest an ancient collision between a young Jupiter and another giant protoplanet could explain Jupiter\u2019s fuzzy center.<\/p>\n

Juno has also imaged Jupiter\u2019s auroras, and studied lightning in the planet\u2019s hydrogen-rich atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The shadow of Jupiter\u2019s moon Io is cast on the cloud tops of the giant planet in this view taken Sept. 12 by a camera on-board NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft. Kevin Gill, a software engineer at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created this fisheye composite from imagery taken by the JunoCam instrument. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS\/Kevin M. Gill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA has approved Juno\u2019s mission to continue through July 2021, but Juno could keep operating later into the 2020s. Juno is up for a mission extension review in 2020.<\/p>\n

Engineers were worried intense radiation around Jupiter could damage Juno\u2019s electronics during repeated passages through the planet\u2019s radiation belts. The spacecraft\u2019s computer and other sensitive electronics are surrounded by a titanium compartment, or vault, to shield the components from radiation.<\/p>\n

Officials say they see no signs of radiation damage to the spacecraft so far.<\/p>\n

Juno was originally supposed to maneuver into a lower, 14-day orbit around Jupiter after arriving at the planet in 2016. But a problem with the craft\u2019s main engine prevented the orbit change from happening.<\/p>\n

The longer 53-day orbit requires more time for Juno to obtain the mission\u2019s required science data. The Juno mission was originally scheduled to end in 2018 with a controlled destructive plunge into Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

One benefit of the longer 53-day orbit is Juno receives a lower radiation dose, alleviating some of the concerns about radiation damage to the spacecraft\u2019s electronics.<\/p>\n

In its current orbit, the Juno spacecraft would pass through Jupiter\u2019s shadow in November, robbing the orbiter of sunlight for its power-generating solar arrays. Ground teams plan to use the spacecraft\u2019s reaction control system thrusters Sept. 30 for a burn to slightly adjust its trajectory around Jupiter to avoid the eclipse.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The shadow of Jupiter\u2019s moon Io is cast on the cloud tops of the giant planet in this view taken Sept. 12 by a camera on-board NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft. Kevin Gill, a software engineer at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created this mosaic from imagery taken by the JunoCam instrument. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS\/Kevin M. Gill Fresh images […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1928,1183,1929,2522,1606,472,190,1561],"class_list":["post-12945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-io","tag-jet-propulsion-laboratory","tag-juno","tag-junocam","tag-jupiter","tag-lockheed-martin","tag-nasa","tag-planetary-science"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}