As Juno prepares for an up-close look at Jupiter’s giant storm, astronomers are supplementing their knowledge with Earth-based observations.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a hurricane-like storm about 10,200 miles (16,500km) wide and at least 150 years old. On July 10, the Juno spacecraft will complete the first ever up-close study of this storm, flying 5,600 miles (9,000km) above the Great Red Spot. In preparation for this landmark opportunity to observe some of our solar system’s most extreme weather, the Gemini and Subaru Telescopes on Mauna Kea have taken some stunning images of Jupiter to supplement the data Juno is expected to obtain.
Why are Earth-based observations so important, when Juno is sitting in orbit around the giant planet? “Observations with Earth's most powerful telescopes enhance the spacecraft's planned observations by providing three types of additional context,” Juno science team member Glenn Orton of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained in a press release. “We get spatial context from seeing the whole planet. We extend and fill in our temporal context from seeing features over a span of time. And we supplement with wavelengths not available from Juno. The combination of Earth-based and spacecraft observations is a powerful one-two punch in exploring Jupiter.” Read more...
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a hurricane-like storm about 10,200 miles (16,500km) wide and at least 150 years old. On July 10, the Juno spacecraft will complete the first ever up-close study of this storm, flying 5,600 miles (9,000km) above the Great Red Spot. In preparation for this landmark opportunity to observe some of our solar system’s most extreme weather, the Gemini and Subaru Telescopes on Mauna Kea have taken some stunning images of Jupiter to supplement the data Juno is expected to obtain.
Why are Earth-based observations so important, when Juno is sitting in orbit around the giant planet? “Observations with Earth's most powerful telescopes enhance the spacecraft's planned observations by providing three types of additional context,” Juno science team member Glenn Orton of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained in a press release. “We get spatial context from seeing the whole planet. We extend and fill in our temporal context from seeing features over a span of time. And we supplement with wavelengths not available from Juno. The combination of Earth-based and spacecraft observations is a powerful one-two punch in exploring Jupiter.” Read more...