NEW DELHI: Nasa’s Juno spacecraft has once again provided us with breathtaking images, this time capturing the tiny moon Amalthea passing in front of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. The images, taken during Juno’s 59th close flyby of Jupiter in March, reveal Amalthea in stunning detail, thanks to the efforts of citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt who processed the raw camera data to enhance the clarity of the pictures.
Amalthea, known to be the reddest object in the solar system, was seen orbiting its massive mother planet. This hue is believed to be caused by sulfur from the nearby volcanic moon Io. The moon, which was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in 1892, is approximately 100 miles wide and irregularly shaped due to its insufficient mass to form a symmetrical sphere. Nasa’s Galileo spacecraft previously imaged Amalthea, revealing a landscape filled with craters, hills, and valleys.
Juno, equipped with an instrument called JunoCam, has been orbiting Jupiter for over seven years, studying the planet’s origin, evolution, and atmospheric dynamics. The spacecraft’s mission has expanded to include the entire Jovian system, including its rings and moons. Despite its extended mission, Juno will eventually burn up in Jupiter’s atmosphere, avoiding any risk of contaminating potentially habitable moons.
Amalthea, one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, orbits within the path of Io and alongside three other small moons: Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe. Its proximity to Jupiter means it completes an orbit in just half an Earth day. The moon’s mysterious nature is underscored by the discovery that it emits more heat than it receives from the sun, likely due to the influence of Jupiter’s magnetic field or tidal stresses from the planet’s gravity.
The new images not only highlight the scientific marvels within our solar system but also demonstrate the power of public engagement in space exploration through Juno’s citizen science initiatives.
Amalthea, known to be the reddest object in the solar system, was seen orbiting its massive mother planet. This hue is believed to be caused by sulfur from the nearby volcanic moon Io. The moon, which was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in 1892, is approximately 100 miles wide and irregularly shaped due to its insufficient mass to form a symmetrical sphere. Nasa’s Galileo spacecraft previously imaged Amalthea, revealing a landscape filled with craters, hills, and valleys.
Juno, equipped with an instrument called JunoCam, has been orbiting Jupiter for over seven years, studying the planet’s origin, evolution, and atmospheric dynamics. The spacecraft’s mission has expanded to include the entire Jovian system, including its rings and moons. Despite its extended mission, Juno will eventually burn up in Jupiter’s atmosphere, avoiding any risk of contaminating potentially habitable moons.
Amalthea, one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, orbits within the path of Io and alongside three other small moons: Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe. Its proximity to Jupiter means it completes an orbit in just half an Earth day. The moon’s mysterious nature is underscored by the discovery that it emits more heat than it receives from the sun, likely due to the influence of Jupiter’s magnetic field or tidal stresses from the planet’s gravity.
The new images not only highlight the scientific marvels within our solar system but also demonstrate the power of public engagement in space exploration through Juno’s citizen science initiatives.
Denial of responsibility! Swift Telecast is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – swifttelecast.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.