Tag Archives: jupiter

Aurora Footprint of Jupiter’s Moons

Posted on April 8, 2018 by astronomydylan

We all are familiar with the Galilean Moons; those 4 largest moons orbiting Jupiter which Galileo discovered with his telescope, and which were subsequently named after his lovers. Three of these moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede) have created auroral bursts in Jupiter’s atmosphere, but Callisto had only yielded two potential footprints … until last month! We know how … Continue reading Aurora Footprint of Jupiter’s Moons → Continue reading →

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Specific Europa Mission Currently Under Works, Now Named

Posted on April 4, 2017 by njelinek425

In the quest to find habitable bodies, Jupiter’s moon Europa has been a high priority on the exploration list due to its liquid saltwater ocean underneath its ice crust. Three key ingredients for life must be present in order for biological activity to take place: liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources able to enable […] Continue reading →

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Diamonds Are A Planet’s Best Friend

Posted on April 4, 2017 by kendylldellinger

All planets with an atmosphere experience weather of some kind. An atmosphere allows a planet to experience wind and various forms of precipitation. On Earth, precipitation comes in the form of liquid and frozen water. Scientists have reasons to believe that on Jupiter and Saturn instead of raining water it rains diamonds. Saturn has an atmosphere that […] Continue reading →

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Juno Probe Makes Fourth Passage of Jupiter’s Clouds

Posted on April 4, 2017 by njelinek425

  Last Monday (March 27), NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a historic passage within the vicinity of the cloud tops of Jupiter’s atmosphere, marking its fifth overall flyby of the gas giant and fourth “science pass”, or experimental run. The probe marked its closest point to the planet at 08:52 GMT, coming within 2700 miles of its […] Continue reading →

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Jupiter’s Storms

Posted on April 4, 2017 by elliottlifeastronomy

On a world where the entire surface and most of the atmosphere are composed of dense, fast-moving clouds, you can imagine that the storms are slightly worse than our regular terrestrial thunderstorm. Of course, the most famous of Jupiter’s maelstroms is the Great Red Spot, aptly named for its blue color (kidding) and impressive diameter, […] Continue reading →

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The Trojans and Greeks

Posted on April 3, 2017 by pkunetz97

As was recently discussed in class, there are two clusters of asteroids ahead of and behind Jupiter known as the “Trojans” and the “Greeks”. The first one to be discovered was an asteroid now known as “Achilles”, a hero who fought on the Greek side of the Trojan War. The Greeks are all slightly ahead […] Continue reading →

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Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Nick Belsten

In 1994, one year after its discovery, the fragmented remains of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter’s upper atmosphere in a sequence of 23 large impacts, each releasing the energy equivalent of 25,000 megatons of TNT, more than one million times as much energy as released by the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Orbital analysis … Continue reading Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 → Continue reading →

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Diamond Rain?

Posted on March 29, 2017 by abbeyroth

Scientists are exploring the idea that diamonds rain down from the skies on Saturn and Jupiter. Methane exists in abundance in the atmospheres of these planets, and lighting storms turn this methane into soot (which is pure carbon). As the soot falls toward the planet’s surface, it hardens under intense pressures and forms small diamonds about… Continue reading Diamond Rain? Continue reading →

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Blog 5-Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Posted on March 22, 2017 by sullivrs

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot- a huge storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere- has been ongoing for seemingly as long as people have pointed their telescopes toward the planet; this means that the storm has continued for at least approximately 400 years, and most likely more.  The storm itself is twice Earth’s size.  It is known that storms on… Continue reading →

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Planetary Defense System

Posted on February 14, 2017 by elliottlifeastronomy

Earth sees its own fair share of incoming projectiles from space, but it’s extremely rare to find an event that poses any real threat to Earth or its life.  Most of this safety comes from that fact that space is inconceivably large; the possibility of being hit by an asteroid that could do any real […] Continue reading →

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