All articles tagged with #jupiter
A Science Advances study suggests Ganymede’s metallic core is still forming today, and that ongoing convection in this migrating, hot iron core powers its long-unique magnetic field via a ‘cold-start’ dynamo; the results don’t fully overturn older theories, but they offer a new mechanism to explain why Ganymede’s dynamo persists while Callisto shows no obvious one, with implications for Europa and future data from Europa Clipper and Juice.
Simulations show a dust-loaded ring just outside Jupiter acted as a long-lasting dust trap, producing multiple generations of planetesimals with varied compositions over millions of years and linking to meteorite types like carbonaceous chondrites, offering insight into the Solar System’s early planet-building history.
Mercury becomes readily visible for a short time after sunset, lining up with Venus and Jupiter in the evening sky. Mercury is about magnitude -1.1 and roughly 6° above the western horizon; Jupiter shines high in eastern Gemini at magnitude -1.9, with Venus (magnitude -3.9) between them. To spot Mercury, draw a line from Jupiter through Venus toward the horizon. Sunset is around 8:17 PM and sunrise about 5:37 AM (local time).
Galileo’s 1995 Jupiter probe descended into the gas giant, transmitting for about 58 minutes before the harsh pressures ended the signal; it provided the first in-situ measurements of a giant planet’s atmosphere—temperatures, pressures, densities, chemistry, and cloud structure—revealing a drier-than-expected hot-spot region and hotter, denser conditions, while highlighting the limitation that a single descent cannot characterize the entire planet.
New Science Advances study suggests Jupiter’s moon Ganymede could have formed a metal core later than previously thought and still sustain a magnetic field via a warming-driven dynamo powered by protracted core formation, radioactive heating, and tidal forces. This challenges the idea that dynamos always originate early and cool over time, and implies Ganymede’s magnetism—potentially active today—arises from a “warm start” process that could influence how we think about magnetic fields on other worlds, including exoplanets.
Look west after sunset on May 21 to spot a crescent Moon near the Beehive Cluster (Messier 44) in Cancer, with Jupiter nearby to the lower right and Venus and Mercury forming a diagonal line beyond; Mercury will be very close to the horizon, so a clear view is needed. Binoculars will reveal the Beehive cluster, and a small telescope can show lunar craters along the terminator as the Moon drifts away and sets in the early hours of May 22.
On May 20, 2026, a rare western-sky pairing brings the waxing crescent Moon into close view with Jupiter after sunset, with Venus also visible near the horizon; a small telescope can reveal Jupiter's cloud bands and its four Galilean moons, while the Moon's craters line up along the terminator. Timings are location-dependent, so check local sunset guides—nearly in the northeastern U.S. Venus sets about 2.5 hours after sunset, followed by Jupiter, with the Moon visible until around midnight.
From 18 to 21 May 2026, a thin crescent Moon will meet Venus and Jupiter after sunset in the western sky, giving a three-body view that culminates in the Venus–Jupiter conjunction on 9 June; keep a clear western horizon and avoid looking at the Sun. The Moon will continue waxing toward a full Moon on 31 May 2026, a monthly blue Moon; if you observe or photograph the alignment, share your pics with Sky at Night.
A new study suggests Jupiter’s moon Ganymede could still be differentiating its metallic core billions of years after formation, with iron–sulfur melt slowly feeding a protocore that powers a long‑lived magnetic dynamo and likely an ocean beneath its ice. If correct, this ongoing core growth could explain why Ganymede remains magnetically active while other moons fade, and future missions like JUICE may test the idea.
Jupiter and Venus will align in the western sky with a slim, crescent Moon in mid‑May, offering a prime stargazing moment from sunset to midnight; Jupiter will sit high near Gemini (Pollux and Castor) and dominate the sky, while Venus, far brighter, will appear lower. The alignment is strongest between May 18–20—with Mercury also in the vicinity—and a telescope may reveal Jupiter’s cloud bands and its moons Io and Ganymede, aided by Earthshine reflecting off Venus.
NASA's Juno spacecraft captured a rare close-up view of Jupiter's inner moon Thebe during a May 1, 2026 flyby, about 3,100 miles away, using its Stellar Reference Unit camera, which wasn't designed for close-up moon imaging; Thebe—discovered by Voyager 1 in 1980—is Jupiter's second-largest inner moon and remains a focus during Juno's extended mission.
The Rare Earth hypothesis argues that while microbial life may be common, a precise, unlikely sequence of conditions—galactic position, a Jupiter-like shield, a large Moon for climate stability, plate tectonics, and a late-evolving complex cell lineage—could make complex life and civilizations extraordinarily rare; even as many habitable-zone planets exist, some researchers critique the view, but the article urges taking this data-driven rarity seriously and suggests we may find microbes across the galaxy while civilizations remain scarce.
New isotopic analyses of meteorites and early Earth rocks indicate Earth formed predominantly from material from the inner Solar System, with Jupiter’s gravity acting as a barrier that limited outer-Solar-System material; the planet’s overall isotopic composition is homogeneous, while water (and some carbon) likely arrived later from outer-body sources.
Using NASA’s Juno data and Hubble imagery, scientists find Jupiter’s storms unleash lightning far stronger than Earth’s—some flashes may reach 100× Earth’s power, with total energy hundreds to thousands of times greater. By tracking isolated 2021–22 “stealth” storms, researchers correlated microwave signals with specific events in 100+ km‑tall clouds, though exact energies depend on wavelength and storm dynamics. The study, published in AGU Advances (2026), highlights differences in Jupiter’s hydrogen‑rich atmosphere and ammonia‑water ice (potential “mushball” hail) physics, while leaving many details of the mechanism unresolved.
New AGU Advances research using Juno data directly estimates the power of Jupiter’s lightning and finds its storms unleash far more energetic discharges than on Earth, likely due to Jupiter’s tall, hydrogen-rich atmosphere and deep moist convection that store energy before release, revealing different lightning physics and making Jupiter a natural laboratory for extreme weather.