It is impossible to overstate how fascinating the secrets of space may be. The breathtaking images captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have persuaded us of that in just one year. But now, additional NASA spacecraft are joining the fray.
In a recent mystery image, the NASA Juno spacecraft, which is orbiting Jupiter, can be seen peering into the planet’s interior and revealing a green sphere.
NASA Juno Captures Mysterious Lightning
Are signals coming from aliens? Not quite. Actually, according to NASA, what was visible in the image is the glow left behind by a lightning strike on Jupiter.
NASA’s Juno mission captured this image of a vortex near Jupiter’s north pole where it noticed the glow left over from a lightning strike.
Whereas lightning on Earth typically strikes clouds containing water and happens most frequently towards the equator, lightning on Jupiter is believed to strike clouds having an ammonia-water mix and is most frequently observed near the poles.
The picture was not recently taken by Juno. On December 30, 2020, the photo was obtained as the spacecraft finished its 31st close flyby of Jupiter.
Following that, citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill analyzed the image using the JunoCam instrument’s raw data.
Juno was 32,000 kilometers above Jupiter’s cloud tops when the photo was taken.
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Illuminating Jupiter’s Cloud Dynamics and Uncovering Mysteries of the Giant Planet
In order to better understand the dynamics of Jupiter’s clouds, especially those at the poles, the JunoCam, a visible light telescopic camera, was added to the payload.
In September 2017, scientists predicted that the JunoCam would only be able to function for the first eight orbits of Jupiter. It is still functional, though.
Juno’s orbits will frequently bring it close to Jupiter in the coming months when the spacecraft travels over the night side of the big planet, giving Juno’s array of science instruments even more chances to capture lightning in the act.
Jupiter’s composition, gravitational field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere will all be measured by NASA’s Juno mission.
In addition, it is looking for hints about the planet’s history, whether or not it has a rocky core, how much water is in the deep atmosphere, how the planet’s mass is distributed, and how fast its deep winds, which can reach speeds of up to 620 kilometers per hour, are moving.
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