Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission
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Posted by Physics & Astronomy in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on July 6, 2016
While much of Stan Cowley’s early scientific career concerned theoretical and data analysis studies of the Earth’s outer plasma environment, involvement in work on the gas giant planets began with his participation in the analysis of Ulysses energetic particle and magnetic field data obtained during the 1992 Jupiter flyby. Subsequently this research strand extended into […]
Posted in Science | Tagged Aurora, Magnetosphere
Posted by Physics & Astronomy in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on July 6, 2016
In addition to the suite of remote sensing instruments carried aboard the Junospacecraft, the mission coincides with an unprecedented international campaign to scrutinise Jupiter’s dynamic, evolving atmosphere from Earth-based facilities. Juno carries a microwave radiometer capable of sounding below Jupiter’s top-most cloud decks to hundreds of bars of pressure to understand the deep processes underpinning […]
Posted in Science | Tagged Juno, Jupiter, weather
Posted by Rosie Johnson in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on July 1, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Mission, Science | Tagged Aurora, IRTF, Juno, Jupiter, observing |
Posted by Jonathan Nichols in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 30, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Mission, Science | Tagged Aurora, Hubble Space Telescope, Juno, Jupiter
Posted by Physics & Astronomy in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 30, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Science | Tagged Aurora, Juno
Posted by Physics & Astronomy in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 29, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Science | Tagged IRTF, Jupiter, VLT
Posted by Henrik Melin in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 28, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Science | Tagged IRTF, Jupiter, telescope, weather
Posted by Rosie Johnson in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 27, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Science | Tagged Aurora, Juno, Jupiter, Space weather |
Posted by Physics & Astronomy in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 23, 2016
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, […]
Posted in Team | Tagged Juno, Leicester, Team
Posted by Physics & Astronomy in Leicester to Jupiter: The Juno Mission on June 20, 2016
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 […]
Posted in Science
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