REAL LIFE NEWS: JUNO’S FIRST RESULTS ARE IN
by Hazed
NASA has released the first scientific results from the Juno probe which is orbiting Jupiter – and the observations are throwing up some surprises.
“It’s a lot more complex than scientists have been assuming. That’s a theme that runs through almost all the datasets that we have,” Scott Bolton, Juno’s principle investigator from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Texas said. “One of the most exciting results is this paradigm shift – we have to rethink how giant planets work in general.”
Juno’s instruments measure many things, such as microwaves, infrared waves, radio waves, visible light, Jupiter’s magnetic field, and other particles. Its orbit is elongated which means it periodically moves closer to the planet, allowing detailed measurements.
Scientists are now examining the data, which is helping them to understand some of the giant planet’s properties: the shape of its gigantic magnetic field, how gasses are distributed inside the planet and how they move around, how much water the planet has in its atmosphere, and hopefully, the giant gassy planet’s structure all the way down to its core.
These initial observations show a gravitational field differing from expectations, poles with lots of clustered storms more chaotic than Saturn’s, a magnetic field twice as strong as expected, and a very strange process for generating auroras, probably far different from Earth’s. There’s a lot more info at the source links below, along with some fabulous pictures.
This is just the first of many approaches Juno will make to Jupiter so we will get a lot more information in the coming months, which will tell us about other aspects of the planet.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/nasas-juno-mission-just-dropped-its-first-huge-pile-of-1795546707
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/may/25/nasas-juno-probe-captures-dramatic-first-close-up-images-of-jupiter
