Tagged: Jupiter

Jupiter X-Ray Aurora Mystery Solved, After 40 Years

So you think Earth’s northern lights are big and majestic? In July 2021, Randy Gladstone of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, said in a NASA statement: That’s nothing … Jupiter has auroras bigger than our entire planet. In that statement, planetary astronomers...

Stormy weather on Jupiter

Giant storms whirl in the turbulent atmosphere on the southern hemisphere of Jupiter in this image captured by the visible-light JunoCam camera on board of NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The enhanced image showing the stormy weather on the largest planet of the solar system was captured...

Jupiter explorer JUICE ready for space simulation

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) future Jupiter exploring spacecraft JUICE, which will search for signs of life on the ice-covered moons in the Jovian system, is getting its first taste of a space-like environment in the Large Space Simulator at ESA’s facilities in the Netherlands....

Jupiter At Opposition August 19-20, Now At Its Best

Jupiter at opposition In 2021, mighty Jupiter will be in opposition to the sun on the night of August 19-20. That’s when Earth will fly between the sun and Jupiter, and Jupiter will appear opposite the sun in our sky. Jupiter is always bright, but...

Mystery of Jupiter’s powerful X-ray auroras finally solved

Mysterious flares of X-rays from Jupiter’s auroras suggest that the giant planet’s “northern lights” may possess unexpected similarities with those of Earth, a new study finds. Auroras, the shimmering displays of radiance known as the northern or southern lights on Earth, are seen above the...

Amateur astronomer discovers a tiny moon around Jupiter

An amater astronomer has discovered a previously unknown moon around Jupiter after poring over old telescope images, a major first. “I’m proud to say that this is the first planetary moon discovered by an amateur astronomer!” moon searcher Kai Ly said in a July 8...

Scientists solve 40-year mystery over Jupiter’s X-ray aurora

A research team co-led by UCL has solved a decades-old mystery as to how Jupiter produces a spectacular burst of X-rays every few minutes. The X-rays are part of Jupiter’s aurora—bursts of visible and invisible light that occur when charged particles interact with the planet’s...