Observing Jupiter’s auroras with Hubble
Unfortunately, they don’t let you take observing trips to the Hubble Space Telescope; perhaps the only downside to using the veteran observatory. It is a strange feeling, knowing that this world-renowned and famously oversubscribed facility, perhaps best known for its remarkable images of nebulae and galaxies, is, for a fleeting moment in history, doing […]
Hubble captures vivid auroras in Jupiter’s atmosphere
Astronomers are using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study auroras — stunning light shows in a planet’s atmosphere — on the poles of the largest planet in the Solar System, Jupiter. This observation programme is supported by measurements made by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, currently on its way to Jupiter. Jupiter, the largest planet in […]
Glowing Jupiter awaits Juno
This article was released by the European Southern Observatory, Royal Astronomical Society and University of Leicester press office on Monday June 27th to coincide with the UK National Astronomy Meeting. Stunning new images and the highest-resolution maps to date of Jupiter at thermal infrared wavelengths give a glowing view of Juno’s target, a week ahead […]
Observing Jupiter’s fierce weather from the ground
In late April 2016, I had the privilege of spending a few weeks in Hawaii, observing on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, using a spectrograph called TEXES. This is an instrument that can measure the composition and structure of Jupiter’s clouds, and was built at the University of Texas, Austin. These observations provide a picture […]
Jupiter’s aurora: the most powerful Northern lights display in the solar system!
During Juno’s time at Jupiter, we will have the fantastic opportunity to study the most powerful aurora in the solar system. An aurora is light emitted by atoms and molecules that have been excited through collisions with very energetic particles that enter a planet’s atmosphere along the planet’s magnetic field lines. The generation of Jupiter’s […]
Juno and the University of Leicester
The University of Leicester has a long history of involvement in cutting edge space and planetary research spanning more than five decades – a Leicester-built instrument has been operating in space every single year since 1967, and Leicester scientists and engineers have played vital roles in missions with many different space agencies, including NASA, […]
Juno’s Science – What do we hope to learn?
Future blog entries will look at specific examples of the science being done at the University of Leicester that is related to Juno’s exploration of Jupiter. But to set this work in context, today we’ll briefly summarise the overarching goals of the Juno mission, the experiments on board, and what we hope to learn from […]
Almost there now…
As the Independence Day fireworks erupt over the Rosebowl Stadium near Los Angeles, just across the highway from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, fireworks of a very different kind should be going off at Jupiter. For 35 minutes, NASA’s Juno spacecraft will fire its main engine to apply the brakes and ease into orbit around […]
Introducing Leicester’s Juno Team
No matter where you look in the fields of astronomy and planetary science, humankind’s exploration of our Solar System’s largest planet has been a centrepiece for new discoveries and new insights into our place in the universe. What shaped the architecture of our Solar System, allowing the formation of rocky terrestrial worlds close to […]
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