Juno also sent back unique views of Jupiter’s bright southern lights considered the most powerful in the solar system. The pictures have given scientists goose bumps.
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Juno came within 4,200km of Jupiter on Aug 27 during a six-hour transit from the north pole to the south. Another Juno instrument recorded sounds from Jupiter – “ghostly-sounding transmissions emanating from the planet”, said Nasa. It is the largest of our Solar System’s giant planets (the other three giants are Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). Its clouds have shadows, possibly meaning they are at a higher altitude than other visible features.
Images released show the swirling clouds at incredible detail, as well as taken a picture of Jupiter from an angle impossible on Earth, showing the freaky bluish north pole in fascinating detail.
Bolton mentioned that on Jupiter, everything is unique; it doesn’t possess a single thing resembling things around.There are still 36 flybys left to study the uniqueness of the largest planet in our solar system.
Launched in August 2011, the $1.1 billion Juno mission arrived at Jupiter roughly five years later on July 4, 2016.
Juno still has 36 more flybys of Jupiter, giving scientists more time to explore the wonders and mysteries of the giant planet.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view as it closed in on Jupiter’s north pole, about two hours before the August 27, 2016, closest approach. Bolton said the planet is unique as they thought the hexagon was a common trait among gas giants.
Nasa planned the finale so that Juno will not accidentally smash into Jupiter’s moons, particularly the icy moon Europa, a target of future exploration.
All of Juno’s eight science instruments were energized and gathered data during the flyby. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM), supplied by the Italian Space Agency, took images of Jupiter’s north and south polar regions in infrared wavelengths.
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. It was also collecting scientific data, like information on magnetic fields and the planet’s southern auroras, the latter of which are impossible to see from Earth.
The detailed pictures taken by Juno look “like nothing we have seen or imagined before”, Bolton said.
We have known about these radio emission for over sixty years, but they had never been analyzed from a close vantage point – that is, until now. Waves detected the signature emissions of the energetic particles that generate the massive auroras which encircle Jupiter’s north pole.
With its enormous size and iconic Great Red Spot, Jupiter is one of the most recognizable planets in the our solar system.
Both measurements could profoundly affect our view of the planet’s evolution, and have implications for our understanding of the development of the solar system.
‘Jupiter is talking to us in a way only gas-giant worlds can, ‘ said Bill Kurth, co-investigator for the Waves instrument from the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
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“Now we are going to try to figure out where the electrons come from that are generating them”.
