Tag Archive for 'Jupiter'

An artist’s rendition of the MOA-2010-BLG-477Lb exoplanet and its white-dwarf host. Image credit: W.M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarenko.

Jupiter-Mass Exoplanet Found Orbiting White Dwarf

Oct 15, 2021 by News Staff

Using a technique called gravitational microlensing, which occurs when a star close to Earth momentarily aligns with a more distant star, astronomers have...

Water vapor is present in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. da Silva.

Hubble Finds Water Vapor on Trailing Hemisphere of Europa

Oct 15, 2021 by News Staff

Observations by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in far-ultraviolet light of Jupiter’s icy moons were used in the past to detect molecular oxygen...

By analyzing images taken by Hubble between 2009 and 2020, Wong et al. found that the average wind speed just within the boundaries of the Great Red Spot, set off by the outer green circle, have increased by up to 8% and exceed 640 km per hour; in contrast, the winds near the storm’s innermost region, set off by a smaller green ring, are moving significantly more slowly; both move counterclockwise. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Michael H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley.

Hubble Measures Horizontal Winds in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Sep 28, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the WFC3/UVIS instrument on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the horizontal winds in Jupiter’s...

This infrared view of Ganymede was obtained by the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the July 20, 2021 flyby. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Juno Team Creates Infrared Map of Ganymede

Aug 9, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, researchers have produced a new infrared map of...

Jupiter is shown in visible light for context underneath an artistic impression of the Jovian upper atmosphere’s infrared glow. The brightness of this upper atmosphere layer corresponds to temperatures, from hot to cold, in this order: white, yellow, bright red and lastly, dark red. The aurorae are the hottest regions and the image shows how heat may be carried by winds away from the aurora and cause planet-wide heating. Image credit: J. O’Donoghue, JAXA / Hubble / NASA / ESA / A. Simon / J. Schmidt.

Jupiter’s Powerful Polar Aurorae are Responsible for Upper-Atmospheric Heating, Study Shows

Aug 5, 2021 by News Staff

The upper atmosphere of Jupiter is hotter than expected from the amount of sunlight that it receives: the average temperature should be about minus 73...

Roth et al. reveal the first evidence for water vapor in the atmosphere of Ganymede, the result of the thermal escape of water vapor from the moon’s icy surface. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. daSilva.

Hubble Detects Water Vapor in Atmosphere of Ganymede

Jul 26, 2021 by News Staff

Jupiter’s icy satellite Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System. Water ice on its surface is frozen solid in frigid temperatures as low as minus...

The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Small Impacts Mechanically Churn Uppermost Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa, Researchers Say

Jul 13, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Planetary scientists are studying the cumulative effects of small impacts on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa as they prepare to explore the icy...

Jupiter’s X-ray aurorae. Image credit: ESA / NASA / Zhonghua Yao / William Dunn.

Planetary Scientists Solve Mystery of Jupiter’s X-Ray Auroral Flares

Jul 12, 2021 by News Staff

The rapidly rotating, strong magnetic field of Jupiter provides a natural lab that is key to understanding the dynamics of high-energy plasmas. Spectacular...

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Clouds of Venus Too Dry to Sustain Even Extremophile Life Forms, Study Says

Jun 29, 2021 by News Staff

The recent suggestion of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus has regenerated interest in the idea of life in clouds; however, such analyses usually...

This image of Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

NASA’s Juno Orbiter Completes Close Flyby of Ganymede

Jun 9, 2021 by News Staff

Juno’s June 7, 2021 flyby of Ganymede is the closest a spacecraft has come to Jupiter’s largest moon since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft made its close...

An artist’s impression of the ultra-short-period sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-1634b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Helium Rain is Possible inside Jovian Planets, New Experiments Suggest

May 27, 2021 by News Staff

Jupiter, Saturn and numerous giant exoplanets discovered to date consist mostly of hydrogen and helium. In 1977, planetary scientists predicted the existence...

Europa Has Volcanoes on the Floor of Its Subsurface Ocean, Study Suggests

May 26, 2021 by News Staff

Jupiter’s moon Europa harbors underneath a tectonically modified ice shell a salty ocean in direct contact with its rocky interior. Such an oceanic environment...

This visible-light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. Near the top, a long brown feature called a ‘brown barge’ extends 72,000 km (nearly 45,000 miles) in the east-west direction. The Great Red Spot stands out prominently in the lower left, while the smaller feature nicknamed Red Spot Jr. (known to Jovian scientists as Oval BA) appears to its lower right. Image credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / de Pater et al. / M. Zamani.

Astronomers Capture Stunning New Images of Jupiter

May 12, 2021 by News Staff

Three images of Jupiter from the 8-m Frederick C. Gillett Gemini North telescope at the Gemini Observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope show...

This image from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft shows a volcanic explosion on Io. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizon.

ALMA Detects Volcanic Gases in Atmosphere of Io

Apr 7, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers from India have detected acetone, disulfur monoxide, and carbon monoxide...

Hue et al. discovered faint aurora features likely triggered by charged particles coming from the edge of Jupiter’s massive magnetosphere; this occurrence, shown in the false color series of images recorded 30 seconds apart (red panels), displays the characteristically ring-like emissions, expanding rapidly over time. Image credit: NASA / SWRI / JPL-Caltech / V. Hue / G.R. Gladstone / B. Bonfond.

Juno Spots Faint Auroral Rings on Jupiter

Mar 30, 2021 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using data from the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft have discovered expanding emission circles of ultraviolet...

This image shows an artist’s impression of winds in Jupiter’s stratosphere near the planet’s south pole, with the blue lines representing wind speeds; these lines are superimposed on a real image of Jupiter, taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada / NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

ALMA Detects Strong Winds in Stratosphere of Jupiter

Mar 25, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed incredibly powerful winds — with speeds of up to 1,450 kmh...

This illustration depicts ultraviolet polar aurorae on Jupiter and Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / UVS / STScI / MODIS / WIC / IMAGE / University of Liège.

Jupiter’s Dawn Storms are Remarkably Similar to Earth’s Auroral Substorms

Mar 18, 2021 by News Staff

Dawn storms consist of short-lived but intense brightening and broadening of Jupiter’s main auroral oval near where the atmosphere emerges from darkness...

Computer model of the Antikythera Mechanism’s display: in the center, the dome of the Earth, the phase of the Moon and its position in the Zodiac -- then rings for Mercury, Venus, true Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Date, with ‘little sphere’ markers and smaller markers for oppositions. Scale marks and index letters for the synodic cycles of the planets are inscribed on the planet rings. Surrounding these, the Zodiac and the Egyptian Calendar. The true Sun ring has a ‘little golden sphere’ with ‘pointer.’ When the Moon and Sun pointers coincide, the Moon sphere shows black for New Moon; when the pointers are on opposite sides, the Moon sphere shows white for Full Moon. The Head of the Dragon Hand shows the ascending lunar node; the Tail the descending node. Small triangles on the true Sun ring, near the pointer, show wider and narrower eclipse limits. Eclipses are possible if the Dragon Hand is within these limits. When the Moon pointer is before the Head of the Dragon, the Moon is South of the node; after, it is North of the node -- conversely for the descending node. A Date pointer is attached to a narrow date ring, showing the date in the Egyptian Calendar. Image credit: Freeth et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w.

Scientists Step Closer to Understanding Full Capabilities of Antikythera Mechanism

Mar 15, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from University College London and the Cyprus Institute’s Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center has...

The Chicxulub asteroid hit Earth at an angle of about 60 degrees, which is among the worst-case scenarios for the lethality of the impact by the production of climate-changing gases. Image credit: Chase Stone.

Novel Theory Explains Possible Origin of Dinosaur-Killing Chicxulub Impactor

Feb 16, 2021 by News Staff

At the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago, a 10-km impactor crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what...

A whimsical view of the planets of our Solar System and the missions sent from Earth to explore them. Image credit: Jenny Mottar / NASA.

Astronomers Discover New ‘Celestial Autobahn’ in Solar System

Dec 9, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of astronomers from Serbia and the United States has discovered a new superhighway network to travel through our Solar System much...

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