NASA’s Juno spacecraft has sent back the first-ever images of Jupiter’s north pole, which show storm systems and weather activity unlike anything previously seen on any of our solar system’s gas-giant planets.
The images were taken during the solar powered spacecraft’s first flyby of the planet with its instruments switched on. Juno successfully executed the first of 36 orbital flybys on August 27 when the spacecraft came about 4,200 kilometres above Jupiter’s swirling clouds.
“First glimpse of Jupiter’s north pole, and it looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in the US. “It’s bluer in colour up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms. There is no sign of the latitudinal bands or zone and belts that we are used to – this image is hardly recognisable as Jupiter.”
“We’re seeing signs that the clouds have shadows, possibly indicating that the clouds are at a higher altitude than other features,” said Bolton. One of the most notable findings of these first-ever pictures of Jupiter’s north and south poles is something that the JunoCam imager did not see, NASA said. “Saturn has a hexagon at the north pole. There is nothing on Jupiter that anywhere near resembles that. The largest planet in our solar system is truly unique. We have 36 more flybys to study just how unique it really is,” said Bolton.
The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM), supplied by the Italian Space Agency, acquired some remarkable images of Jupiter at its north and south polar regions in infrared wavelengths. “JIRAM is getting under Jupiter’s skin, giving us our first infrared close-ups of the planet,” said Alberto Adriani, JIRAM co-investigator from Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Rome. “These first infrared views of Jupiter’s north and south poles are revealing warm and hot spots that have never been seen before. And while we knew that the first-ever infrared views of Jupiter’s south pole could reveal the planet’s southern aurora, we were amazed to see it for the first time. No other instruments, both from Earth or space, have been able to see the southern aurora.”
“Now, with JIRAM, we see that it appears to be very bright and well-structured. The high level of detail in the images will tell us more about the aurora’s morphology and dynamics,” Adriani said. Among the more unique data sets collected by Juno during its first scientific sweep by Jupiter was that acquired by the mission’s Radio/Plasma Wave Experiment (Waves), which recorded ghostly-sounding transmissions emanating from above the planet.
These radio emissions from Jupiter have been known about since the 1950s but had never been analysed from such a close vantage point.
Taking us one step closer to internet-connected wireless implanted devices, a team of Indian-origin engineers has introduced a new way of communication that allows devices to talk to smartphones and watches.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) launched on Thursday the INSAT-3DR, an advanced weather satellite that will provide a variety of meteorological services.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning for the launch of a record 68 satellites in one mission by early next year. “There are many launches. There is one particular launch we are planning about 68 satellites, that’s also there, that is yet to be finalised,” Antrix CMD Rakesh Sasibhushan told reporters here in response to a question on the line up.
Scientists have discovered a ‘ghost snake’ – a new species of elusive, pale grey reptiles dwelling in Madagascar.
WASHINGTON: Two Indians and four other Indian-origin teenagers are among the 16 global finalists for the sixth annual ‘Google Science Fair 2016’ to compete for the USD 50,000 scholarship.
Man-made fragrances such as perfumes, soaps and shampoos we love to use are a threat to environment, says a new study. Scientists studying the canals of Venice found that certain molecules produced in such fragrances act as potential contaminants of the environment and may also impact our ecosystem in the long run.
Two NASA astronauts left the International Space Station on Friday for a 6-1/2-hour spacewalk to install a parking spot for upcoming commercial space taxis, which will end US reliance on Russia for rides to the orbiting outpost. Station commander Jeff Williams and flight engineer Kate Rubins floated outside the station’s airlock at about 8:15 AM EDT (1215 GMT) and headed toward the berthing slip once used by NASA’s now-retired space shuttles, a NASA TV broadcast showed.