Juno probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

[Martin-O2]

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?

Further reading on the Juno mission

[viridis]

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

[jonsie]

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.

[Cleoriff]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Martin-O2]

@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! 

[Toby]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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

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Totlaly agree @Anonymous! I want to get a telescope

[jonsie]

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

As Spock would say, 'Fascinating!'

[jonsie]

[Martin-O2]

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@jonsie wrote:

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

As Spock would say, 'Fascinating!'

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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.