Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions

Dragon

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Post n°1

Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions

Post by Dragon Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:17 am

Jupiter's planetary radiation environment is the most intense in the solar system.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has been orbiting the planet closer than any previous mission since 2016, investigating its innermost radiation belts from a unique polar orbit.

The spacecraft's orbit has enabled the first complete latitudinal and longitudinal study of Jupiter's radiation belts.

Becker et al. leverage this capability to report the discovery of a new population of heavy, high-energy ions trapped at Jupiter's midlatitudes.

Source

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Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions 334pu7m

Dragon

Dragon: Senior Administrator; Posts : 11769
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Post n°2

Re: Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions

Post by Dragon Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:22 am

Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions Juno-detects-jupiters

. Credit: M. Stetson, D. Santos-Costa, J. Arballo, H. N. Becker, CC BY-NC 4.0

Juno has discovered a new population of highly energetic ions (bright blue spots) at midlatitudes within the inner edge of Jupiter’s relativistic electron belt, a region not previously explored.

Juno’s stellar reference unit star camera records bright streaks in its images when these penetrating ions strike its sensor.

The closest approach of Pioneer 11 to the planet and the path of the Galileo probe are also shown.

Source

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Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions 334pu7m

Dragon

Dragon: Senior Administrator; Posts : 11769
Points : 33764
Times User Thanked: : 1284
Join date : 2018-01-18

Post n°3

Re: Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions

Post by Dragon Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:25 am

This animation shows the orbit of NASA's Juno spacecraft with respect to the giant planet's radiation belts.

The space around Jupiter is filled with electrically charged atomic particles -- electrons, protons and ions. (The bulk of this material comes from volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io.)

These particles feel the force of Jupiter's powerful magnetic field and move in response to it.

Some of the particles, mainly the electrons, are accelerated to nearly the speed of light.

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Juno detects Jupiter's highest-energy ions 334pu7m