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July 2017 - A "Lively" Discovery on Titan
Report #29 - June 2017
Juno's Report
Nearly a year ago, on July 4, 2016, NASA's Juno spacecraft fell into orbit with the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. Since then, the spacecraft has been slowly gathering data on the planet to unravel its many mysteries, from its Atmosphere to its colossal magnetic field. Below are a few of the spacecraft's observations in a nutshell:
Magnetic Field
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Juno's Magnetometer Investigation measurements suggest Jupiter's magnetic field to be way stronger than predicted, being "10 times more powerful than Earth."
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Jupiter's magnetic field is irregularly shaped. Described to be "lumpy," its strength is unevenly distributed, leading to the belief that the magnetic field is generated close to Jupiter's surface, unlike Earth's which is generated in the planet's core.
Atmosphere
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Juno's Microwave Radiometer detected large quantities of ammonia "a few hundred kilometers into [Jupiter's] atmosphere."
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The behavior of Jupiter's belts are mysteries in themselves, some running deep into Jupiter's atmosphere or "[transforming] into other structures."
Polar Regions & Auroras
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Jupiter's Auroras are believed to be formed differently than Earth's, relying on "'plasmas...from [Jupiter's] ionosphere,'" allowing the planet to "'populate its magnetosphere'" and create powerful auroras.
Polar Storms
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JunoCam has discovered "densely clustered, swirling storms the size of Earth" in Jupiter's poles. Scientists are unsure how they were formed or whether these storms are temporary or permanent.
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Another mystery is "'why Jupiter's north pole doesn't look like the south pole,'" according to Scott Bolton, Juno's Principal Investigator at the Southwest Research Institute.
An artist's interpretation of the layers within the gas giant, Jupiter. Jupiter's magnetic field, as suggested by Juno's observations, may be generated above its "core of metallic hydrogen." Image Credit: Kelvinsong – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31764016
An image taken by Juno of storms clustered around Jupiter's south pole. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Betsy Asher Hall/Gervasio Robles
Next Stop: The Great Red Spot
Juno's orbits around Jupiter take the spacecraft up-close and far out from the planet. In fact, every 53 days, Juno dives as close as Jupiter's clouds, collects data to send to scientists for observation, than falls back a large distance from its atmosphere. On July 11th, 2017, Juno plans on taking a plunge by Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a giant mass of storms three times the size of Earth that's been the cause of numerous questions and speculations of its origin and what is beneath "'those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops,'" as Bolton describes it. It's up to Juno to finally uncover Jupiter's secrets and give scientists much-anticipated answers about the planet.
An image taken by Voyager I of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Image Credit: NASA/JPL, https://www.nasa.gov/content/jupiters-great-red-spot-viewed-by-voyager-i
SOURCES:
This report was a summary of the following article. Click the link for more information about Juno's discoveries: https://www.universetoday.com/135765/juno-ready-tell-us-found-jupiter/amp/
Images:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21641
https://www.nasa.gov/content/jupiters-great-red-spot-viewed-by-voyager-i