All articles tagged with #jupiter moons
Space.com’s Gemma Lavender lists the five best binocular targets to spot: the Moon, Jupiter’s Galilean moons, the double star pair Mizar and Alcor, Auriga’s open clusters (M36, M37, M38), and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31); plus practical tips on choosing binoculars, magnification, stability (tripods or image-stabilized models), and observing under dark skies for the most detail.
A new study used 122 simulations of the early outer solar system, varying how many giant planets there were. They find that a fifth, long‑lost ice giant could explain the current layout and that Jupiter’s moons survived in less than 15% of scenarios and Uranus’s moons in about 9%, with the surviving cases requiring the presence (and eventual ejection) of the extra planet. The result suggests our solar system’s history involved a stochastic instability that included a vanished planet reshaping the orbits of moons around the gas/ice giants.
The European Space Agency's JUICE spacecraft will unexpectedly observe interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in November 2023 from a distance, providing rare remote sensing data before its main mission to study Jupiter's moons in the early 2030s. This unplanned observation offers a unique opportunity to study an interstellar object, with data expected to arrive in 2026.
ESA's JUICE spacecraft performed a Venus flyby on August 31 as part of its journey to study Jupiter's icy moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, using gravity assists to reach its destination by July 2031, despite temporarily losing communication and shielding itself from Venus's heat.
ESA's Juice spacecraft experienced a communication loss due to a software bug involving a timer that controls the signal amplifier, which was fixed after ground commands successfully reactivated the amplifier. The issue was caused by a timer wraparound problem that occurs every six months, but it was resolved without major impact, and the spacecraft is now en route to Venus for a gravity-assist flyby.
The European Space Agency's Juice spacecraft successfully resolved a communication anomaly caused by a software bug, allowing it to proceed with its Venus flyby and continue its mission to study Jupiter's moons, despite initial communication challenges.
Scientists propose using Ganymede, the largest moon in our Solar System, as a detector for macroscopic dark matter objects, which could leave unique impact signatures detectable by upcoming space missions like JUICE and Europa Clipper, potentially unlocking new insights into the elusive dark matter that makes up most of the universe's mass.
Michele Dougherty becomes the UK's first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years, inspired by her childhood interest in space, and is involved in missions to explore Jupiter's icy moons, aiming to inspire more women in science and highlight the importance of astronomy to the UK.
NASA's Galileo spacecraft, launched in 1989, revolutionized our understanding of Jupiter and its moons through orbiting the planet, studying its moons, and deploying a descent probe into its atmosphere, before ending its mission with a controlled plunge to avoid contaminating Europa.