Amazing new infrared images and high-resolution maps of Jupiter give a glowing view of Juno’s target, several days ahead of the NASA mission’s arrival at the gas giant.
This false-color image of Jupiter was created by selecting and combining the best images obtained from many short VISIR exposures at a wavelength of 5 micrometers. Image credit: L. Fletcher / ESO.
The new maps and images of Jupiter were created from observations with VISIR, a newly-upgraded thermal instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
The observations were taken between February and June 2016 to characterize Jupiter’s atmosphere ahead of the arrival of NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
“The maps will help set the scene for what Juno will witness in the coming months,” said Dr. Leigh Fletcher from the University of Leicester.
“Observations at different wavelengths across the infrared spectrum allow us to piece together a 3D picture of how energy and material are transported upwards through the atmosphere.”
The high-resolution maps reveal the present-day temperatures, composition and cloud coverage within Jupiter’s dynamic atmosphere, and show how giant storms, vortices and wave patterns shape the appearance of the Solar System’s most giant planet.
This view compares a lucky imaging view of Jupiter from VISIR (left) at infrared wavelengths with a very sharp amateur image in visible light from about the same time (right). Image credit: L. Fletcher / Damian Peach / ESO.
“Together with the new results from Juno, the VISIR dataset in particular will allow researchers to characterize Jupiter’s global thermal structure, cloud cover and distribution of gaseous species,” added Dr. Glenn Orton, leader of the ground-based campaign in support of Juno’s mission.
“We can then hope to answer questions like what drives Jupiter’s atmospheric changes, and how the weather we see is connected to processes hidden deep within the planet.”
The astronomers have also used the TEXES spectrograph on NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility to map Jupiter’s changing appearance.
These maps were created by slicing Jupiter’s atmosphere using spectroscopy from the IRTF/TEXES instrument, and include a comparison to a visible light map from amateur observers. The 8 micrometer wavelength senses stratospheric temperatures near 1 mbar, showing wave activity in the northern hemisphere and heating associated with Jupiter’s powerful auroras. The 8.6 and 10.4 micrometer wavelengths sense tropospheric temperatures, ammonia humidity and cloud coverage. Image credit: NASA / Infrared Telescope Facility / M. Vedovato / JUPOS Team / Fletcher et al.
Both sets of observations were made as part of a campaign using several telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, as well as contributions from amateur astronomers around the world, to understand Jupiter’s climate ahead of Juno’s arrival.
“The combined efforts of an international team of amateur and professional astronomers have provided us with an incredibly rich dataset over the past eight months,” Dr. Orton said.
The results were presented yesterday at the National Astronomy Meeting 2016 in Nottingham, UK.
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Leigh N. Fletcher et al. Jupiter’s Atmosphere on the Eve of Juno’s Arrival. NAM 2016
