Jupiter – depth and structure of planet’s shrinking red spot unveiled
Nasa’s Juno mission, the solar-powered robotic explorer of Jupiter, has completed its five-year prime mission to reveal the inner workings of the solar system’s biggest planet. Since 2016, the spacecraft has flown within a few thousand kilometres of Jupiter’s colourful cloud tops every 53 days, using a carefully...
Europa: there may be life on Jupiter’s moon and two new missions will pave the way for finding it
It’s brilliant news. In just over a decade, there will be two spacecraft exploring one of the most habitable worlds in the solar system – Jupiter’s moon Europa. That’s thanks to a recent announcement by NASA that the orbiter Europa Clipper has been given the go ahead, scheduled...
Twelve new Jovian moons discovered
Twelve more moons have been found orbiting Jupiter bringing the grand total up to seventy-nine. The team from the Carnegie Institute for Science lead by Scott S. Sheppard have discovered 11 normal moons and one 'oddball' moon orbiting the gas giant. This brings the total of known moons...
Juno Mission Unlocks the Mysterious Auroras of Jupiter
Up to now the dynamics of Jupiter’s atmosphere was a mystery to scientists. The gas giants atmosphere is the largest in the Solar System, spanning 3,000 miles in altitude, and home to some of the most powerful auroras. Reconstructed view of Jupiter’s northern lights through the filters of...
Voyagers 40th anniversary: 40 images
On August 20th, 1977, Voyager 2 was launched. Her sister spacecraft, Voyager 1, followed two weeks later. The goal of these two explorers was to shed light on the mysteries of our solar system by getting up close and personal with our planetary neighbours. The missions scope and...
Jupiter adds two more natural satellites to its roster
Thanks to astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chadwick Trujillo, Earth giant neighbour has added two new moons to its existing roster - bringing the total moon count to 69. Until last week Jupiters catalogued satellites totalled 67. 15 of these orbit Jupiter in line with the planets...