“New views of Jupiter” showcases swirling clouds on giant planet
Members of NASA’s Juno mission team, some of the world’s leading observers of Jupiter, and citizen scientists from across the globe are attending a workshop ‘New Views of Jupiter: Pro-Am Collaborations during and beyond the NASA Juno Mission’ at the Royal Astronomical Society in London on 10-11 May. JunoCam images presented at the meeting by […]
Juno’s first observations of Jupiter are revealing a giant world that is defying our expectations
[This is an extended version of an article that first appeared on the Conversation] Last month, planetary scientists from around the world met at the European Geophysical Union (EGU) conference in Vienna, and were treated to the first glimpse of long-awaited results from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The atmosphere was one of surprise, excitement, and […]
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 […]
The spacecraft that came before Juno
The Juno spacecraft is not the first to visit Jupiter – this honour goes to the Pioneer 10 spacecraft back in December of 1973. The planet has been visited by a total of eight spacecraft prior to the arrival of Juno in July of 2016. Out of these eight, only the Galileo spacecraft entered orbit, […]
Juno’s second perijove – may the science commence!
The Juno spacecraft is today 3 million km from Jupiter, and it has spent its time in the first of two capture orbits about the planet. These orbits take 53 days to complete and are followed by the main science phase with orbits about 14 days long. The capture orbit itself is designed to keep […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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