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    Jupiter tagged posts

    40 years on, Voyager still Hurtles through space

    August 28, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist's concept of NASA's Voyager spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Artist’s concept of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Are we alone? Forty years ago, NASA rocket scientists sought to answer this question by launching the Voyager spacecraft, twin unmanned spaceships that would travel further than any human-made object in history. When Voyager 1 and 2 launched about two weeks apart in 1977 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, scientists knew little about the outer planets in our solar system, and could hardly imagine the scope of their upcoming space odyssey.

    “None of us knew, when we launched 40 years ago, that anything would still be working, and continuing on this pioneering journey,” said Voyager project scientist Ed Stone...

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    Hubble takes Close-up Portrait of Jupiter

    April 7, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This dazzling Hubble Space Telescope photo of Jupiter was taken when it was comparatively close to Earth, at a distance of 415 million miles. Hubble reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiter's clouds as arranged into bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. These bands are produced by air flowing in different directions at various latitudes. Lighter colored areas, called zones, are high-pressure where the atmosphere rises. Darker low-pressure regions where air falls are called belts. The planet's trademark, the Great Red Spot, is a long-lived storm roughly the diameter of Earth. Much smaller storms appear as white or brown-colored ovals. Such storms can last as little as a few hours or stretch on for centuries. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (NASA Goddard)

    This dazzling Hubble Space Telescope photo of Jupiter was taken when it was comparatively close to Earth, at a distance of 415 million miles. Hubble reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiter’s clouds as arranged into bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. These bands are produced by air flowing in different directions at various latitudes. Lighter colored areas, called zones, are high-pressure where the atmosphere rises. Darker low-pressure regions where air falls are called belts. The planet’s trademark, the Great Red Spot, is a long-lived storm roughly the diameter of Earth. Much smaller storms appear as white or brown-colored ovals. Such storms can last as little as a few hours or stretch on for centuries. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (NASA Goddard)

    On April...

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    Timeline of key Jupiter milestones leading up to Juno’s arrival today

    July 4, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This visual timeline shows our evolving view of Jupiter and some of the key milestones leading up to one of the most ambitious Jupiter missions yet: Juno.

    This visual timeline shows our evolving view of Jupiter and some of the key milestones leading up to one of the most ambitious Jupiter missions yet: Juno.

    This visual timeline shows our evolving view of Jupiter and some of the key milestones leading up to one of the most ambitious Jupiter missions yet: Juno. NASA television coverage of the event begins at 10:30 pm US Eastern time. The solar-powered spacecraft is equipped with a suite of instruments to learn about how Jupiter formed, and a radiation vault to protect the electronics from massive doses of radiation near the gas giant, reaching 1,000 times the lethal level for a human.

    Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun...

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    Glorious, Glowing Jupiter awaits Juno’s arrival

    June 27, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    In preparation for the imminent arrival of NASA's Juno spacecraft in July 2016, astronomers used ESO's Very Large Telescope to obtain spectacular new infrared images of Jupiter using the VISIR instrument. They are part of a campaign to create high-resolution maps of the giant planet to inform the work to be undertaken by Juno over the following months, helping astronomers to better understand the gas giant. This false-colour image was created by selecting and combining the best images obtained from many short VISIR exposures at a wavelength of 5 micrometres. Credit: ESO/L. Fletcher

    In preparation for the imminent arrival of NASA’s Juno spacecraft in July 2016, astronomers used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to obtain spectacular new infrared images of Jupiter using the VISIR instrument. They are part of a campaign to create high-resolution maps of the giant planet to inform the work to be undertaken by Juno over the following months, helping astronomers to better understand the gas giant. This false-colour image was created by selecting and combining the best images obtained from many short VISIR exposures at a wavelength of 5 micrometres. Credit: ESO/L. Fletcher

    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 of the NASA mission’s arrival at the giant planet...

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