NASA's Juno mission, led by Southwest Research Institute's Dr. Scott Bolton, is rewriting what scientists thought they knew about Jupiter specifically, and gas giants in general, according to a pair of Science papers released today. The Juno spacecraft has been in orbit around Jupiter since July 2016, passing within 3,000 miles of the equatorial cloudtops.

"What we've learned so far is earth-shattering. Or should I say, Jupiter-shattering," said Bolton, Juno's principal investigator. "Discoveries about its core, composition, magnetosphere, and poles are as stunning as the photographs the mission is generating."

The solar-powered spacecraft's eight scientific instruments are designed to study Jupiter's interior structure, atmosphere, and magnetosphere. Two instruments developed and led by SwRI are working in concert to study Jupiter's auroras, the greatest light show in the solar system. The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) is a set of sensors detecting the electrons and ions associated with Jupiter's auroras. The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVS) examines the auroras in UV light to study Jupiter's upper atmosphere and the particles that collide with it. Scientists expected to find similarities to Earth's auroras, but Jovian auroral processes are proving puzzling.

"Although many of the observations have terrestrial analogs, it appears that different processes are at work creating the auroras," said SwRI's Dr. Phil Valek, JADE instrument lead. "With JADE we've observed plasmas upwelling from the upper atmosphere to help populate Jupiter's magnetosphere. However, the energetic particles associated with Jovian auroras are very different from those that power the most intense auroral emissions at Earth."

Also surprising, Jupiter's signature bands disappear near its poles. JunoCam images show a chaotic scene of swirling storms up to the size of Mars towering above a bluish backdrop. Since the first observations of these belts and zones many decades ago, scientists have wondered how far beneath the gas giant's swirling façade these features persist. Juno's microwave sounding instrument reveals that topical weather phenomena extend deep below the cloudtops, to pressures of 100 bars, 100 times Earth's air pressure at sea level.

"However, there's a north-south asymmetry. The depths of the bands are distributed unequally," Bolton said. "We've observed a narrow ammonia-rich plume at the equator. It resembles a deeper, wider version of the air currents that rise from Earth's equator and generate the trade winds."

Juno is mapping Jupiter's gravitational and magnetic fields to better understand the planet's interior structure and measure the mass of the core. Scientists think a dynamo—a rotating, convecting, electrically conducting fluid in a planet's outer core—is the mechanism for generating the planetary magnetic fields.

"Juno's gravity field measurements differ significantly from what we expected, which has implications for the distribution of heavy elements in the interior, including the existence and mass of Jupiter's core," Bolton said. The magnitude of the observed magnetic field was 7.766 Gauss, significantly stronger than expected. But the real surprise was the dramatic spatial variation in the field, which was significantly higher than expected in some locations, and markedly lower in others. "We characterized the field to estimate the depth of the dynamo region, suggesting that it may occur in a molecular hydrogen layer above the pressure-induced transition to the metallic state."

Interesting, but am I in the wrong forum?

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am I in the wrong forum?

Could be. Which forum did you want to be in. :clap:

I like having two forums but I doubt that way back when the OT was created, that if there had been so few daily posts, that it would have been added.

We members who post a lot, have all probably posted to the wrong forum - I know I have.

Maybe Shelly or one of the other moderators will move this to the OT.

Jim.

Must say, I'm happy Shelly posted it here because I probably would have missed it in the OT forum which I do not regularly visit, even though I know I'm missing a lot by not doing so.

Must say, I'm happy Shelly posted it here because I probably would have missed it in the OT forum which I do not regularly visit, even though I know I'm missing a lot by not doing so.

Dang! There it goes again! My post repeated itself. I am suspecting my mouse (Logitech MX) and have plugged in a USB-corded one to check.

Dang! There it goes again! My post repeated itself. I am suspecting my mouse (Logitech MX) and have plugged in a USB-corded one to check.

I may have inadvertently double clicked that last time with the "new" mouse.

lol that's what I meant in the one post when I said I'm seeing double.

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QUOTE:
lol that's what I meant in the one post when I said I'm seeing double.

Yeah, John, I know .

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QUOTE:
lol that's what I meant in the one post when I said I'm seeing double.

Yeah, John, I know .

Don't get me wrong. The topic is definitely of interest to me. I just didn't expect to see it here.

"To err is human".

Jim.

Like Jupiter, Shelly is just a far out guy. I don't read the other forums and would have missed his interesting post.



ed


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Like Jupiter, Shelly is just a far out guy. I don't read the other forums and would have missed his interesting post.

You're right about Shelly. :clap:

But it's your loss by avoiding the OT. There's a lot more of interest there than us center and left guys attacking Trump and his cronies.

Here's a shot of recent topics:

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1. Trump sending Congress $4.1 trillion budget
Trump administration sending Congress $4.1 trillion budget WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump Tuesday is unveiling a $4.1 trillion spending p Shelly May-26-17 10:07 AM
by Shelly 4

2. Ah, true love!
Not after where that hand has been... https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=suDNHwtq oiU jazz4free May-24-17 12:28 PM
by jbmcmillan 1

3. Convection ovens
I'm planning on getting another convection oven. Mostly going to be used for cookies. I've heard good things about Oster, but reading some reviews, I' Stevehiker May-20-17 04:42 PM
by KJT 1

4. NASA's amazingly successful mission to Mercury!
https://www.nasa.gov /press-release/nasa- completes-messenger- mission-with-expecte d-impact-on-mercurys -surface Shelly May-19-17 10:36 AM 0

5. A Crisis Trunp Cant Manage With Tweet or Taunt
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is facing a crisis he can't manage with a tweet or a taunt. The appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mue Shelly May-18-17 05:01 PM
by Pcqandaman 4

6. Why do pilots say "Roger"?
Even if you haven’t heard it in real life, I’m guessing you’ve heard a pilot on TV say “Roger.” I bet you’ve even heard pilots say “Roger Wilco.” H bobbo May-18-17 11:51 AM
by therube 2

7. Amazing maps
https://learningfrom dogs.com/2015/01/14/ midweek-maps Pcqandaman May-13-17 04:53 PM
by KJT 11

8. Trump's friends, heroes and role models.
Vladimir Putin. Kim Jong Un Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi (has opponents murdered) Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha ( Paul D May-04-17 03:36 PM
by Paul D 2

9. The Next Pluto Mission - An Orbiter And Lander?
The Next Pluto Mission—An Orbiter And Lander? Thu, 04/27/2017 - 2:03pm by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today For decades, we could only imagine wha Shelly Apr-29-17 03:50 PM
by Shelly 2

10. Scientists have discovered a new planet with the mass o...
Scientists have discovered a new planet with the mass of Earth, orbiting its star at the same distance that we orbit our sun. The planet is likely far Shelly Apr-28-17 09:12 AM
by jasonlevine 1

I numbered them to make it easier to read. This is the last month of OT posts. There just happen to be 10 of them - not the dozens that might have been a monthly total a few years back.

As you should be able to see, you've missed several other interesting topics from Shelly and others - not just Center and Left attacks on Pres. Trump and his cronies.

Once in a while you should come down and join us - I think you'll see what you've been missing.

Jim.

Obviously, I did post to the wrong forum in my haste. Now I am afraid to move it since so many replied here, :lol: