topic Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit in Off-Topic

Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Martin-O2 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:01:59 GMT

Hey guys,

An exciting week for space exploration as the Juno probe has successfully entered Jupiter's orbit following a 5 year journey! The purpose of the probe is to study the in interior structure of the planet which will provide clues to it's formation and hopefully determine if there is a solid core or not.

Jupiter is one of my favourite planets and it's an absolute beast containing over twice the mass of all the other planets combined. Composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. The planet also features a magnetic field that's 14 times stronger then Earths which if visible would be many times the size of the full moon. It's likely generated by a layer of "metallic hydrogen", which is hydrogen compressed under extreme pressure until it forms a liquid metal like substance similar to mercury.

It's also home to 67 moons, the majority of which are below 10 kilometres in diameter. The main 4 moons of note are called the Galilean moons (discovered by Galileo) called Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto which are fascinating places in their own right with possible sub surface ocean on Europa, Io being the most geologically active object in the Solar System and Ganymede holding the title of the largest moon in the Solar system!

The planet also has some of the most extreme weather and it's atmosphere is constantly churning with storms. The most famous of which is the great red spot which as been going for at least 300 years.

I'm really interested by what we could learn about our largest neighbour from this mission. What do you guys think? Is this a massive waste of money or a worthy endeavour to find out more about how the Solar system formed?

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

viridis — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:18:52 GMT

You can see Jupiter's moons with the naked eye, did you know that..

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:21:39 GMT

I've always been fascinated with our solar system. Yes it's an enormous amount of money but that is our nature, to explore the unknown. From the beginning of time man has wondered what lies over the next hill, what will we find across the sea or ocean. Who knows what we will discover the more we explore distant planets and galaxies?

Jupiter and Saturn have always been my personal favourites and I look forward to seeing and reading about all the amazing discoveries from this probe.

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Cleoriff — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:34:59 GMT

Some people find it fascinating others think its a waste of money. I am all for it. Discovering new things about 'everything' has helped us in the past.... and will continue to do so.

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:59:15 GMT

This sort of thing is fantastic. Knowledge is power and all that

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Martin-O2 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 12:31:53 GMT

@viridis I didn't know that! I'm off camping this weekend so will have to keep an eye out for this. Weather permitting of course.

I totally agree guys it's always been a drive of people to explore and it's awesome that we now have the technology to investigate beyond the confines of our own planet.

I'm most interested in hearing more about the metallic hydrogen layer deep beneath the cloud layers. It only exists under mind boggling pressures and conducts electricity!

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Toby — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 12:53:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

This sort of thing is fantastic. Knowledge is power and all that

Totlaly agree @Anonymous! I want to get a telescope

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:32:22 GMT

How soon before Eugene Wesley Rodenberry's fiction becomes reality?

As Spock would say, 'Fascinating!'

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:38:10 GMT

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Martin-O2 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:55:11 GMT

@jonsie wrote:

How soon before Eugene Wesley Rodenberry's fiction becomes reality?

As Spock would say, 'Fascinating!'

We have a few hurdles to overcome before we get there @jonsie including world hunger, an end to war and mastering faster then light travel but I remain optimistic.

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Toby — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:05:42 GMT

I've never seen the episode with Spock wearing that hat @jonsie, but I'm so glad I've now seen it

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:17:24 GMT

I think it was Star Trek 4 (?) when they went back in time to save the whales....

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:25:00 GMT

has anyone made a joke about liking Uranus yet?

i love this story.....i'm facinated by what information they can gather.

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:27:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
has anyone made a joke about liking Uranus yet?

I'm not sure there are any we haven't heard.....

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:30:49 GMT

I wonder if they will probe Uranus one day!!

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:56:49 GMT

For me personally, they have, every 12 months for the last 8 years.....but I don't think I'll bother here

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Martin-O2 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:57:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I wonder if they will probe Uranus one day!!

*groans* I'm sure they will get around to it @Anonymous but are most likely putting it off to avoid all the jokes that would follow

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

jonsie — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 15:08:12 GMT

I'm still waiting for a new joke. They are all so tired now maybe they need to rename the planet....

Uranus is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus (Ancient Greek: Οὐρανός), the father of Cronus (Saturn) and grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter), which in Latin became "Ūranus". It is the only planet whose name is derived from a figure of Greek mythology

How about naming it Upyours?

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Martin-O2 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 15:21:18 GMT

Great size comparison there @jonsie!

I think they tried to get everyone to pronounce it differently but the jokes were too good for people to go along

Re: Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Daddydoink — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 08:29:38 GMT

Can I please draw your attention to:

Alt-tag:

"The name wasn't a tip-off?" "Honestly, at first I thought you were saying 'Juneau'. A gravity assist seemed like a weird way to get to Alaska, but I figured it must be more efficient or something."