Hercules A

Hercules A
Radio-Optical View of the Galaxy Hercules A - Many thanks to: NASA, ESA, S. Baum and C. O'Dea (RIT), R. Perley and W. Cotton (NRAO/AUI/NSF), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Showing posts with label Junocam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Junocam. Show all posts

Monday, December 11, 2017

Links to abstracts for 9 Juno related papers at AGU 2017 Fall Meeting

Links to abstracts for 9 Juno related papers at AGU 2017 Fall Meeting

U21A-01: A comparative examination of auroral acceleration processes at Jupiter and Earth as enabled by the Juno mission to Jupiter


"Particle distributions observed by Juno’s Energetic Particle Detector Investigation (JEDI) at low altitudes over Jupiter’s polar regions are exceedingly diverse in directionality and in the shapes of their 3-dimensional energy distributions. Asymmetric, bi-directional angular beams with broad energy distributions are often observed near Jupiter’s main auroral oval with considerable variability as to whether upward or downward intensities are the strongest. Signatures of upward and downward magnetic field-aligned potentials, with inferred potentials up to 100’s of kV are sometimes observed, but unlike at Earth, these potentials do not seem to be associated with the strongest discrete-like auroral emission intensities. Particle distributions have similarities to those observed at Earth over the various phenomenological auroral emission regions, but they are observed in unexpected places with respect to the strongest auroral emission regions, and the jovian distributions are much more energetic. We present a comparative examination of auroral acceleration processes observed at Earth and Jupiter in relation to the respective auroral emission regions."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/239529

U21A-02: An overview of the first year of observations of Jupiter’s auroras by Juno-UVS with multi-wavelength comparisons


"Juno’s Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Juno-UVS) has observed the Jovian aurora during eight perijove passes. UVS typically observes Jupiter for 10 hours centered on closest approach in a series of swaths, with one swath per Juno spin (~30s). During this period the spacecraft range to Jupiter’s aurora decreases from ~6 RJ to ~0.3 RJ (or less) in the north, and then reverses this in the south, so that spatial resolution changes dramatically. A scan mirror is used to target different features or raster across the entire auroral region. Juno-UVS observes a particular location for roughly 17 ms/swath, so the series of swaths provide snapshots of ultraviolet auroral brightness and color. A variety of forms and activity levels are represented in the Juno-UVS data–some have been described before with HST observations, but others are new. One interesting result is that the color ratio, often used as a proxy for energetic particle precipitation, may instead (in certain regions) indicate excitation of H2 by low-energy ionospheric electrons. Additional results from comparisons with simultaneous observations at x-ray, visible, and near-IR wavelengths will also be presented."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/234660

U21A-03: The Jupiter gravity field from the first year of Juno science operations


"Through November 2017 the Juno spacecraft has completed nine science orbits about Jupiter. Five of the nine perijove passes, when the spacecraft was closest to Jupiter, were arranged to provide accurate measurements of the Doppler shift of the Juno radio signal in order to determine the Jupiter gravity field. The estimated gravity field has been used to place constraints on the interior structure of Jupiter and and effects caused by differential rotation. The Doppler measurements are also used to estimate the response of Jupiter to tides raised by the Galilean satellites, and the Jupiter rotation axis direction and precession rate. We report on the current status of the gravity estimates and the expected results from the rest of the mission duration."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/243436

U21A-04: Jupiter’s Magnetic Field and Magnetosphere after Juno’s First 8 Orbits 


"The Juno spacecraft entered polar orbit about Jupiter on July 4, 2016, embarking upon an ambitious mission to map Jupiter’s magnetic and gravitational potential fields and probe its deep atmosphere, in search of clues to the planet’s formation and evolution. Juno is also instrumented to conduct the first exploration of the polar magnetosphere and to acquire images and spectra of its polar auroras and atmosphere. Juno’s 53.5-day orbit trajectory carries her science instruments from pole to pole in approximately 2 hours, with a closest approach to within ~1.05 Rj of the center of the planet (one Rj = 71,492 km, Jupiter’s equatorial radius), just a few thousand km above the clouds. Repeated periapsis passes will eventually encircle the planet with a dense net of observations equally spaced in longitude (<12° at the equator) and optimized for characterization of the Jovian dynamo. Such close passages are sensitive to small spatial scale variations in the magnetic field and therefore many such passes are required to bring the magnetic field into focus. Nevertheless, after only 8 orbits, low-degree spherical harmonics can be extracted from a partial solution to a much more complicated representation (e.g., 20 degree/order), providing the first new information about Jupiter’s magnetic field in decades. Juno is equipped with two magnetometer sensor suites, located 10 and 12 m from the center of the spacecraft at the end of one of Juno’s three solar panel wings. Each contains a vector fluxgate magnetometer (FGM) sensor and a pair of co-located non-magnetic star tracker camera heads, providing accurate attitude determination for the FGM sensors. We present an overview of the magnetometer observations obtained during Juno’s first year in orbit in context with prior observations and those acquired by Juno’s other science instruments."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/244811

U21A-05: Results on Jupiter’s Atmosphere from the Juno Microwave Radiometer


"The Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) was designed to investigate Jupiter’s atmosphere and radiation belts as one of a suite of instruments on the Juno mission. The MWR’s main objective is to investigate the composition and dynamics of Jupiter’s neutral atmosphere. Juno has now completed eight perijove passes that sample the atmosphere approximately every 45° in longitude, and the MWR has completed its main collection of data pertaining to the composition and structure of Jupiter’s atmosphere. The primary results for atmospheric structure elaborate on the original discovery that the concentration of ammonia is far from uniformly mixed beneath its saturation level in the atmosphere and that deep atmospheric circulations control its distribution. Conversely, features of the deep circulation may be inferred from this distribution. Distinct circulation patterns are seen for three latitudinal regions: 1) Equatorial, where a column of increased ammonia concentration associated with the equatorial zone is sandwiched by off-equatorial regions of depleted ammonia in the north and south equatorial belts, with structure apparent to approximately the 100-bar pressure level, 2) Midlatitudes, where a stratified ammonia concentration appears stable, and 3) Polar, dominated by deep vertical structures associated with the observed surface vortices. Longitudinal structure is seen in the equatorial region primarily above the level of the water cloud around the 8-bar level, while significant structure appears small or absent outside and below this region. The ability of the MWR to detect lightning at its longest wavelengths was unexpected but sheds light on the presence of water and the distribution of strong convective regions in the atmosphere. The implications of these results for atmospheric dynamics and composition will be discussed."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/260075

U21A-06: One-Year Observations of Jupiter by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper on Juno


"The Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) [1] on board the Juno [2,3] spacecraft, is equipped with an infrared camera and a spectrometer working in the spectral range 2-5 μm. JIRAM was built to study the infrared aurora of Jupiter as well as to map the planet’s atmosphere in the 5 µm spectral region. The spectroscopic observations are used for studying clouds and measuring the abundance of some chemical species that have importance in the atmosphere’s chemistry, microphysics and dynamics like water, ammonia and phosphine.
During 2017 the instrument will operate during all 7 of Juno’s Jupiter flybys. JIRAM has performed several observations of the polar regions of the planet addressing the aurora and the atmosphere. Unprecedented views of the aurora and the polar atmospheric structures have been obtained. We present a survey of the most significant observations that the instrument has performed during the current year.
[1] Adriani A. et al., JIRAM, the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper. Space Sci. Rew., DOI: 10.1007/s11214-014-0094-y, 2014.
[2] Bolton S.J. et al., Jupiter’s interior and deep atmosphere: The initial pole-to-pole passes with the Juno spacecraft. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.aal2108, 2017.
[3] Connerney J. E.P. et al., Jupiter’s magnetosphere and aurorae observed by the Juno spacecraft during its first polar orbits. Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5928, 2017."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/268990

U21A-07: Observations by the Juno Waves Investigation at Jupiter


"The Juno spacecraft successfully entered into a highly elliptic polar orbit of Jupiter in July 2016, providing a unique opportunity to explore the Jovian polar magnetosphere and the region between the rings and atmosphere. Juno’s science payload employs a suite of particle, field, and remote sensing instruments to characterize the Jovian magnetosphere and provide remote observations of Jupiter’s auroras. The radio and plasma wave instrument (“Waves”) measures one electric field component of waves in the frequency range of 50 Hz to 40 MHz and one magnetic field component of waves in the range of 50 Hz to 20 kHz. The initial orbits have revealed a number of radio and plasma wave phenomena related to auroral processes, including auroral hiss, electron phase space holes, and a number of encounters or near encounters with the auroral radio emission source regions. The Waves instrument also observes both electron and proton whistlers from lightning, and detects impulses due to impacts of micron-sized grains near Jupiter’s equator. In the outer magnetosphere, trapped continuum radiation is observed, and numerous magnetopause and bow shock crossings have been encountered. In this talk we provide an overview of these and other early results from the Juno Waves investigation."
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL072889,   https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL072850,   https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073073

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/247784

U21A-08: The first year of observations of Jupiter’s magnetosphere from Juno's Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE)


"Juno observations of the Jovian plasma environment are made by the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) which consists of two nearly identical electron sensors – JADE-E – and an ion sensor – JADE-I. JADE-E measures the electron distribution in the range of 100 eV to 100 keV and uses electrostatic deflection to measure the full pitch angle distribution. JADE-I measures the composition separated energy per charge in the range of 10 eV / q to 46 keV / q. The large orbit – apojove ~ 110 Rj, perijove ~1.05 Rj – allows JADE to periodically cross through the magnetopause into the magnetosheath, transverse the outer, middle, and inner magnetosphere, and measures the plasma population down to the ionosphere. We present here in situ plasma observations of the Jovian magnetosphere and topside ionosphere made by the JADE instrument during the first year in orbit.
Dawn-side crossings of the plasmapause have shown a general dearth of heavy ions except during some intervals at lower magnetic latitudes. Plasma disk crossings in the middle and inner magnetosphere show a mixture of heavy and light ions. During perijove crossings at high latitudes when Juno was connected to the Io torus, JADE-I observed heavy ions with energies consistent with a corotating pickup population. In the auroral regions the core of the electron energy distribution is generally from about 100 eV when on field lines that are connected to the inner plasmasheet, several keVs when connected to the outer plasmasheet, and tens of keVs when Juno is over the polar regions. JADE has observed upward electron beams and upward loss cones, both in the north and south auroral regions, and downward electron beams in the south. Some of the beams are of short duration (~ 1 s) implying that the magnetosphere has a very fine spatial and/or temporal structure within the auroral regions. Joint observations with the Waves instrument have demonstrated that the observed loss cone distributions provide sufficient growth rates to drive the cyclotron maser instability. The high velocity of the Juno spacecraft near perijove (~50 km/s) allows observations for of very low energy ions in the spacecraft ram direction, down to below 1 eV/q for protons."

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/256709

U21A-09: JunoCam Images of Jupiter: Science from an Outreach Experiment


The Juno mission to Jupiter carries a visible imager on its payload primarily for outreach, and also very useful for jovian atmospheric science. Lacking a formal imaging science team, members of the public have volunteered to process JunoCam images. Lightly processed and raw JunoCam data are posted on the JunoCam webpage at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing. Citizen scientists download these images and upload their processed contributions.
JunoCam images through broadband red, green and blue filters and a narrowband methane filter centered at 889 nm mounted directly on the detector. JunoCam is a push-frame imager with a 58 deg wide field of view covering a 1600 pixel width, and builds the second dimension of the image as the spacecraft rotates. This design enables capture of the entire pole of Jupiter in a single image at low emission angle when Juno is ~1 hour from perijove (closest approach). At perijove the wide field of view images are high-resolution while still capturing entire storms, e.g. the Great Red Spot.
Juno’s unique polar orbit yields polar perspectives unavailable to earth-based observers or most previous spacecraft. The first discovery was that the familiar belt-zone structure gives way to more chaotic storms, with cyclones grouped around both the north and south poles [1, 2]. Recent time-lapse sequences have enabled measurement of the rotation rates and wind speeds of these circumpolar cyclones [3].
Other topics are being investigated with substantial, in many cases essential, contributions from citizen scientists. These include correlating the high resolution JunoCam images to storms and disruptions of the belts and zones tracked throughout the historical record. A phase function for Jupiter is being developed empirically to allow image brightness to be flattened from the subsolar point to the terminator. We are studying high hazes and the stratigraphy of the upper atmosphere, utilizing the methane filter, structures illuminated beyond the terminator, and clouds casting shadows. Numerous high altitude clouds have been detected and we are investigating whether they are the jovian equivalent of squall lines."

[1] Bolton, S. et al. (2017) Science 356:821; [2] Orton, G. et al. (2017) GRL 44:4599; [3] Adriani, A. et al. (2017) submitted to Nature.

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/276208


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Introductory Radio Astronomy links:
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2015/06/introductory-radio-astronomy-references.html
Magnetosphere of Jupiter :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere_of_Jupiter
Jupiter events at Juno Waves and other observatories :
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-1-at-juno-waves-and.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-2-at-juno-waves-and.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-3-at-juno-waves-and.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-4-at-juno-waves-and.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/10/jupiter-events-5-at-juno-waves-and.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/10/jupiter-events-6-at-juno-waves-and.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/11/jupiter-events-7-at-juno-waves-and.html
Jupiter events at the University of Iowa Space Physics LWA1 Data Project :
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/08/jupiter-events-1-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/08/jupiter-events-2-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-3-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-4-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-5-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-6-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/09/jupiter-events-7-at-university-of-iowa.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/11/jupiter-events-8-at-university-of-iowa.html
Examples of Jupiter events observed by Juno Waves :
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/examples-of-jupiter-events-observed-by.html
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Saturday, June 25, 2016

9 days from Juno orbit insertion

Since June 10 Juno has been in communication with NASA all day, using the large antennas in California USA, Madrid Spain, and Canberra Australia.

On June 21 JunoCam took an image of Jupiter, approaching from the entirely new perspective of high north Jovian latitude, all previous missions have observed Jupiter from low latitude.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2016-160&rn=news.xml&rst=6543

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/06161235-timeline-of-juno-jupiter-orbit-insertion.html

http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/

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Links to Juno related posts
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/01/links-to-juno-related-posts.html?m=1
Juno Orbit Insertion Press Kit PDF 84 pages 25 MB
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/juno/pdf/juno-lores.pdf
Introductory Radio Astronomy references
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2015/06/introductory-radio-astronomy-references.html?m=1
Sun Earth Jupiter event posts:
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/06/sun-earth-jupiter-20160614.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/06/sun-earth-jupiter-20160601.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/05/sun-earth-jupiter-20160524.html
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2015/08/links-to-monthly-sun-earth-jupiter-posts.html?m=1
Radio Jove Archive 2016 May June
http://radiojove.org/cgi-bin/rjdisplay.pl?sortdate1=20160501&sortdate2=20160701
Solar Dynamics Observatory - Now and Daily - Images Movies
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
Solar Type Examples
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2015/07/solar-type-examples.html
NOAA SWPC Solar Event reports with README description of their format
ftp://ftp.swpc.noaa.gov/pub/indices/events/
Comparison of Cycles 23 and 24 sunspot and coronal mass ejection numbers
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MxC1nf6CLuU/VcD2X3QT_kI/AAAAAAAALyg/n15qgyvN81g/s1600/W150804%2B50.png
http://sidc.oma.be/cactus/ CACTUS page
STEREO and WIND combined daily plots
http://swaves.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wimp.py?date=20151202&do=New+Plot&plot=ws
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Thursday, June 2, 2016

Links to Juno related posts

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Jupiter events at STEREO A for correlation with Juno Waves 20160909
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/09/jupiter-events-at-stereo-for.html

 The Radio Jove Project and Juno Mission at the University of Colorado in Boulder
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-radio-jove-project-and-juno-mission.html 

Jupiter events at STEREO A for correlation with Juno Waves 20160725 
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/07/jupiter-events-at-stereo-for.html
Spectacular European Southern Observatory images of Jupiter in support of the Juno Mission
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/07/spectacular-european-southern.html

A primer on Jupiter's clouds and what to expect from JunoCam
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2016/0708-jupiters-clouds-a-primer.html
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/06090600-what-to-expect-from-junocam.html

Juno Mission Control video during orbit insertion July 4
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/89227847


Video of pre arrival briefing today July 4 at JPL
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/89211042

9 days from Juno orbit insertion
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/06/9-days-from-juno-orbit-insertion.html

"Into the Unknown" the Juno Mission "trailer"
https://youtu.be/A2fknqVk2yk

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Juno Orbit Insertion Press Kit
PDF 84 pages 25 MB
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/juno/pdf/juno-lores.pdf

Video of Juno Briefing at NASA Headquarters June 16
https://t.co/yU3p4Ico6Q

"Revealing Jupiter's Inner Secrets" by Fran Bagenal
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/06/revealing-jupiters-inner-secrets-by.html

About the French and International ground support for the Juno Mission
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/02/about-french-and-international-ground.html

Juno Mission - a post about JunoCam by Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/01/juno-mission-post-about-junocam-by.html

Juno WAVES instrument video narrated by Bill Kurth
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/01/juno-waves-instrument-video-narrated-by.html

Juno arrival animation video
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2015/12/juno-arrival-animation-video.html

Next July 4, the Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2015/12/next-july-4-juno-spacecraft-will-arrive.html

The Junocam camera in the Juno Observatory
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-junocam-camera-in-juno-observatory.html

Kurth and 10 collaborators 2012, The Juno Waves investigation of Jupiter
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2013/12/kurth-and-10-collaborators-2012-juno.html
   
JUICE mission to Jupiter
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2013/02/juice-mission-to-jupiter.html

Two beautiful graphics from the Magnetospheres of the Outer Planets Group
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2012/08/two-beautiful-graphics-from.html

Juno Magnetic Field Investigation - MAG Team at NASA GSFC
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2012/07/juno-magnetic-field-investigation-mag.html

Juno Observatory Instrumentation - On its way to Jupiter, arriving in 2016
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2011/10/juno-observatory-instrumentation-on-its.html

ExPRES - exoplanetary and planetary radio emission simulator
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2011/09/expres-exoplanetary-and-planetary-radio.html

Juno launch 110805
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2011/08/juno-launch-110805.html

Juno spacecraft preparing for launch in August, on a mission to understand Jupiter a little better
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2011/06/juno-spacecraft-preparing-for-launch-in.html

Juno Jovian Observatory in Titusville Florida
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2011/04/juno-jovian-observatory-in-titusville.html

Goddard Space Flight Center Delivers Magnetometers for Juno Mission
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2010/11/goddard-space-flight-center-delivers.html

Juno Armored Up to Go to Jupiter
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2010/07/juno-armored-up-to-go-to-jupiter.html

Juno assembly started April 2010
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2010/04/juno-assembly-started-april-2010.html

Friday, January 15, 2016

Juno Mission - a post about JunoCam by Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society


 http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/01130910-junocam-cruise-data-jupiter.html

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The Juno Mission JunoCam Discussion portal is here:

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/discussion

it already has many current images of Jupiter from Earth, by more than 30 contributors, they will be used in targeting JunoCam.

Here is one, 2016 January 4 by Christopher Go, Cebu, Philippines:

http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/5-jupiter/2016/20160111_2016-01-04-2028_7w.jpg

Hubble Gallery of Jupiter images:
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/solar_system/jupiter/

Links to my Juno related posts:
http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/2016/01/links-to-juno-related-posts.html?m=1


Friday, December 4, 2015

Next July 4, the Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter

I refer you to this NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory news post:

"To Jupiter with JunoCam!"

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2015-363&rn=news.xml&rst=4783

and the JunoCam page at Juno Mission portal:

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam


"...We’re calling all amateur astronomers to upload their telescopic images and data of Jupiter. These uploads are critical for the upcoming Discussion section (coming this fall) and will help NASA successfully plan the future of the mission...

"In between our close Jupiter flybys, Juno goes far from the planet, and Jupiter will shrink in JunoCam's field of view to a size too small to be useful for choosing which features to capture. So we really are counting on having help from ground-based observers," said Candy Hansen, a member of the Juno science team who leads planning for the camera.

Juno will get closer to Jupiter than any previous orbiting spacecraft, giving JunoCam the best close-up views yet of the planet's colorful cloud bands. Every 14 days, the spinning, solar-powered spacecraft will dive past the planet in just a couple of hours, gathering huge amounts of science data, plus about a dozen JunoCam images. At closest approach, Juno will snap photos from only 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) above Jupiter's clouds...."

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The Junocam camera in the Juno Observatory


 I refer to:
http://www.msss.com/all_projects/junocam.php

"...Junocam will acquire 3-color (red, green, blue) images of Jupiter during Juno’s first seven orbits around the giant planet. The data will be processed and studied by students as part of the Juno Education and Public Outreach effort.

 Junocam will support the Juno Mission’s Education and Public Outreach program. The camera, derived from the MSL MARDI instrument, is designed to acquire red-, green- and blue-wavelength images of Jupiter’s polar regions and lower-latitude cloud tops during Juno’s first seven orbits around the planet. These images, of approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) per pixel resolution, will be used by students to create the first color images of the jovian poles, as well as high resolution views of lower-latitude cloud belts. After the required, seven orbit design life, Junocam will continue to operate as long as possible in the harsh jovian radiation environment.

The Juno mission to Jupiter is a project led by Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), San Antonio, Texas. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, is managing the project, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver, Colorado, is building the spacecraft..."

Image of South America taken by Junocam as Juno flew by the Earth on October 9 2013 below

 The Earth and the Moon below
 I refer to:
http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82713

"...In October 2013, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past the Earth to steal some energy for a ride to Jupiter. Along the way, it also stole some glimpses of home.

To reach the outer planets in our solar system, mission planners usually chart a path that sends a spacecraft toward other small planets or the asteroid belt before falling back toward Earth by gravity. The technique allows the spacecraft to use natural gravity and momentum to increase its speed relative to the Sun and slingshot toward the outer solar system. In the case of Juno, the spacecraft received a boost in speed of more than 3.9 kilometers per second (8,800 miles per hour)......The composite view of the Earth and Moon was captured by low-resolution cameras that were designed to track faint stars and orient spacecraft sensors. The cameras are located near the tip of one of Juno’s solar-array arms and are part of the spacecraft’s Magnetic Field Investigation. Earth and the Moon came into view when Juno was about 966,000 kilometers (600,000 miles) away. Note how the Moon’s position relative to Earth changes because the Moon was moving and the spacecraft was approaching both....Juno was launched from Kennedy Space Center on August 5, 2011. It is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016."