{"id":781043,"date":"2024-04-18T13:49:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T18:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=781043"},"modified":"2024-04-18T13:49:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T18:49:52","slug":"nasas-juno-gives-aerial-views-of-mountain-lava-lake-on-io","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=781043","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Juno Gives Aerial Views of Mountain, Lava Lake on Io"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Looking Into Io\u2019s Loki Patera (Artist\u2019s Concept)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lg2Szj_OG_Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This animation is an artist\u2019s concept of Loki Patera, a lava lake on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io, made using data from the JunoCam imager aboard NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft. With multiple islands in its interior, Loki is a depression filled with magma and rimmed with molten lava. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Imagery from the solar-powered spacecraft provides close-ups of intriguing features on the hellish Jovian moon.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Scientists on NASA\u2019s Juno mission to Jupiter have transformed data collected during two recent flybys of Io into animations that highlight two of the Jovian moon\u2019s most dramatic features: a mountain and an almost glass-smooth lake of cooling lava. Other recent science results from the solar-powered spacecraft include updates on Jupiter\u2019s polar cyclones and water abundance.<\/p>\n<p>The new findings were announced Wednesday, April 16, by Juno\u2019s principal investigator Scott Bolton during a news conference at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly in Vienna.<\/p>\n<p>Juno made extremely close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, getting within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the surface, obtaining the first close-up images of the moon\u2019s northern latitudes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIo is simply littered with volcanoes, and we caught a few of them in action,\u201d said Bolton. \u201cWe also got some great close-ups and other data on a 200-kilometer-long (127-mile-long) lava lake called Loki Patera. There is amazing detail showing these crazy islands embedded in the middle of a potentially magma lake rimmed with hot lava. The specular reflection our instruments recorded of the lake suggests parts of Io\u2019s surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanically created obsidian glass on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maps generated with data collected by Juno\u2019s Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instrument reveal Io not only has a surface that is relatively smooth compared to Jupiter\u2019s other Galilean moons, but also has poles that are colder than middle latitudes.<\/p>\n<p>During Juno\u2019s extended mission, the spacecraft flies closer to the north pole of Jupiter with each pass. This changing orientation allows the MWR instrument to improve its resolution of Jupiter\u2019s northern polar cyclones. The data allows multiwavelength comparisons of the poles, revealing that not all polar cyclones are created equal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps most striking example of this disparity can be found with the central cyclone at Jupiter\u2019s north pole,\u201d said Steve Levin, Juno\u2019s project scientist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. \u201cIt is clearly visible in both infrared and visible light images, but its microwave signature is nowhere near as strong as other nearby storms. This tells us that its subsurface structure must be very different from these other cyclones. The MWR team continues to collect more and better microwave data with every orbit, so we anticipate developing a more detailed 3D map of these intriguing polar storms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the mission\u2019s primary science goals is to collect data that could help scientists better understand Jupiter\u2019s water abundance. To do this, the Juno science team isn\u2019t hunting for liquid water. Instead, they are looking to quantify the presence of oxygen and hydrogen molecules (the molecules that make up water) in Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere. An accurate estimate is critical to piecing together the puzzle of our solar system\u2019s formation.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Io\u2019s \u2018Steeple Mountain\u2019 (Artist\u2019s Concept)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gajd3mcYnbA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Created using data collected by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA\u2019s Juno during flybys in December 2023 and February 2024, this animation is an artist\u2019s concept of a feature on the Jovian moon Io that the mission science team nicknamed \u201cSteeple Mountain.\u201d Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jupiter was likely the first planet to form, and it contains most of the gas and dust that wasn\u2019t incorporated into the Sun. Water abundance also has important implications for the gas giant\u2019s meteorology (including how wind currents flow on Jupiter) and internal structure.<\/p>\n<p>In 1995, NASA\u2019s Galileo probe provided an early dataset on Jupiter\u2019s water abundance during the spacecraft\u2019s 57-minute descent into the Jovian atmosphere. But the data created more questions than answers, indicating the gas giant\u2019s atmosphere was unexpectedly hot and \u2014 contrary to what computer models had indicated \u2014 bereft of water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe probe did amazing science, but its data was so far afield from our models of Jupiter\u2019s water abundance that we considered whether the location it sampled could be an outlier. But before Juno, we couldn\u2019t confirm,\u201d said Bolton. \u201cNow, with recent results made with MWR data, we have nailed down that the water abundance near Jupiter\u2019s equator is roughly three to four times the solar abundance when compared to hydrogen. This definitively demonstrates that the Galileo probe\u2019s entry site was an anomalously dry, desert-like region.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The results support the belief that the during formation of our solar system, water-ice material may have been the source of the heavy element enrichment (chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium that were accreted by Jupiter) during the gas giant\u2019s formation and\/or evolution. The formation of Jupiter remains puzzling, because Juno results on the core of the gas giant suggest a very low water abundance \u2014 a mystery that scientists are still trying to sort out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Data during the remainder of Juno\u2019s extended mission may help, both by enabling scientists to compare Jupiter\u2019s water abundance near the polar regions to the equatorial region and by shedding additional light on the structure of the planet\u2019s dilute core.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>During Juno\u2019s most recent flyby of Io, on April 9, the spacecraft came within about 10,250 miles (16,500 kilometers) of the moon\u2019s surface. It will execute its 61st flyby of Jupiter on May 12.<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) funded the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>More information about Juno is available at:<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>DC Agle<br \/>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br \/>818-393-9011<br \/>agle@jpl.nasa.gov<\/p>\n<p>Karen Fox \/ Charles Blue<br \/>NASA Headquarters, Washington<br \/>301-286-6284 \/ 202-802-5345<br \/>karen.c.fox@nasa.gov\u00a0\/\u00a0charles.e.blue@nasa.gov<\/p>\n<p>Deb Schmid<br \/>Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio<br \/>210-522-2254<br \/>dschmid@swri.org<\/p>\n<p>2024-045<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/juno\/nasas-juno-gives-aerial-views-of-mountain-lava-lake-on-io\/?rand=772114\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This animation is an artist\u2019s concept of Loki Patera, a lava lake on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io, made using data from the JunoCam imager aboard NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft. With multiple islands&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":781044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-NASA"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=781043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/781044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=781043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=781043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=781043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}