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

[Toby]

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

[jonsie]

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

[Anonymous]

has anyone made a joke about liking Uranus yet? 

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

[jonsie]

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@Anonymous wrote:

has anyone made a joke about liking Uranus yet? 

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

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[Anonymous]

I wonder if they will probe Uranus one day!! 

[jonsie]

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

[Martin-O2]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wonder if they will probe Uranus one day!! 

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*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 

[jonsie]

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?

[Martin-O2]

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 

[Daddydoink]

Can I please draw your attention to:

 Alt-tag:

More info

"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."