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 […]
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 […]
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