On April 10, a small space probe millions of kilometers from Earth marked the milestone of the mission. NASA's Juno spacecraft made its 26th close flyby of Jupiter.
From an altitude of 4,200 kilometers, the spacecraft can take meticulous measurements of the largest planet in our solar system. And, using his JunoCam tool, he can take photographs that reveal gorgeous details of Jupiter's swirling, turbulent clouds.
This image, processed by NASA software engineer Kevin Gill, shows the north of the planet, an area of raging storms known as collapsed filaments, clouds being stretched out and folded by Jupiter's constant winds.
The rotation usually seen in cyclones appears sporadically in only some substructures; storms are only partially closed and they blow turbulent currents into nearby jets.
Jupiter photographed by NASA's Juno spacecraft last Friday
Source https://t.co/i3l4alM3qt pic.twitter.com/Zchtfdhmi8
– Space Explorer Mike (@MichaelGalanin) April 15, 2020
Although we knew about these regions from Voyager, Cassini, and Hubble photographs, Juno captured the best wild cloud imagery we have ever seen, allowing us to study them much more thoroughly. Juno also showed us that these storms can extend 3,000 kilometers below the cloud tops.
Juno arrived in Jupiter's orbit on July 5, 2016 and made its first flyby on August 27, 2016, with the mission close to completion. There are less than 10 such close flights left.
Preliminary noodling on Perijove 26… @ NASAJuno / Eichstadt / @_TheSeaning pic.twitter.com/zqiuxcqCjd
– Seán Doran (@_TheSeaning) April 15, 2020
If the mission is not renewed, on July 30, 2021, a last close approach is planned, when the probe, like Cassini before it, makes a magnificent, final leap deep into the clouds of Jupiter, transmitting as much data as possible before its signal is permanently silenced.
Sources: Photo: (NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill / Michael Galanin)
