Rosie Johnson
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A change of plan for Juno’s orbit
When Juno successfully entered orbit around Jupiter on 4th July 2016, it was placed an orbit that took 53.5 Earth days to complete. During the 3rd orbit, which was scheduled to begin on 19th October 2016, a burn of the main engine was intended to move Juno into a 14 day science orbit. This new orbit […]
What’s happening in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere down at the equator?
The northern and southern lights of Jupiter are a vibrant and dynamic phenomena, generated by a complex array of mechanisms that create the most powerful aurora in the solar system. There are many aspects of the Jovian aurora which remain to be discovered – something Juno will reveal during it’s time at Jupiter – but […]
Observing Jupiter’s aurora from the top of a Volcano
As part of the ground based support for the Juno mission, I visited the Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, in February through to the beginning of March this year. I was observing Jupiter’s Northern lights while Juno was speeding its way towards Jupiter. During this time, Juno’s instruments had been switch on and it was busy […]
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 […]
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