“Black hole family portrait” is a fancy way of saying “new catalog.” But it’s a very important and exciting catalog, released October 28, 2020 by gravitational wave astronomers, containing 39 new signals from black hole or neutron star collisions. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/ligo-virgo-new-catalog-gwtc-2-black-hole-family-portrait…
Tag: Juno
Electric! Astronomers find sprites in Jupiter’s atmosphere
Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission say they have detected sprites or elves – electrical phenomena above thunderstorms on Earth – in the clouds of Jupiter for the first time. Unlike the red-colored earthly ones however, the Jovian ones are blue. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sprites-or-elves-in-jupiters-atmosphere-lightning-juno…
Juno data indicates ‘sprites’ or ‘elves’ frolic in Jupiter’s atmosphere
New results from NASA’s Juno mission at Jupiter suggest that either “sprites” or “elves” could be dancing in the upper atmosphere of the solar system’s largest planet. It is the first time these bright, unpredictable and extremely brief flashes of light—formally known as transient luminous events, or TLE’s—have been observed on another world. The findings were published on Oct. 27, 2020,…
Super-Earth exoplanets often have giant ‘Jupiter’ bodyguards
Planetary systems with both super-Earths and Jupiter-type planets may be common, according to a new study. As in our own solar system, the giant planets would act as “bodyguards” protecting the smaller planets from asteroid impacts. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/super-earth-exoplanet-giant-jupiter-bodyguard…
Ammonia-rich hail sheds new light on Jupiter’s weather
New Juno results suggest that the violent thunderstorms taking place in Jupiter’s atmosphere may form ammonia-rich hail, or ‘mushballs,’ that play a key role in the planet’s atmospheric dynamics. This theory, developed using data from Juno’s microwave radiometer by the Juno team, is described in two publications led by a researcher at the Laboratoire Lagrange (CNRS/Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur/Université Côte…
Strange lightning on Jupiter may be caused by ammonia snowballs
The Juno spacecraft has spotted lightning on Jupiter that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, and it may be caused by strange, slushy balls of ammonia and ice Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250851-strange-lightning-on-jupiter-may-be-caused-by-ammonia-snowballs/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Juno’s new images reveal Ganymede’s north pole
These are the first spacecraft images yet acquired of the north pole of Ganymede, largest moon of the giant planet Jupiter. NASA’s Juno spacecraft – now orbiting Jupiter – obtained them. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/ganymede-north-pole-infrared-images-juno-spacecraft-jupiter…
The North Poles of Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede Probed by NASA Spacecraft
“NASA’s Juno Jupiter probe has captured unprecedented views of the largest moon in the solar system,” reports Space.com:
During a close flyby of Jupiter on Dec. 26, 2019, Juno mapped the north polar regions of the icy satellite Ganymede in infrared light, something no other spacecraft had done before. The data, which Juno gathered using its Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument,…
NASA Juno takes first images of jovian moon Ganymede’s north pole
On its way inbound for a Dec. 26, 2019, flyby of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew in the proximity of the north pole of the ninth-largest object in the solar system, the moon Ganymede. The infrared imagery collected by the spacecraft’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument provides the first infrared mapping of the massive moon’s northern frontier. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-nasa-juno-images-jovian-moon.html…
Will Astronauts Ever Visit Gas Giants Like Jupiter?
Trying to get an up close and personal look at the solar system’s gas giants is a tricky and dangerous journey. From a report: Jupiter, like the other gas giants, doesn’t have a rocky surface, but that doesn’t mean it’s just a massive cloud floating through the vacuum of space. It’s made up of mostly helium and hydrogen, and as you…