Spot the king of planets: Observe Jupiter
Jupiter is our solar system's undisputed king of the planets. Jupiter is bright and easy to spot from our vantage point on Earth, helped by its massive size and banded, reflective cloud tops. Jupiter even possesses moons the size of planets: Ganymede.....»»
Astronomers discover Jupiter-sized objects drawn into each other"s orbit
In our most basic understanding of our solar system, planets are drawn into the orbit of our massive star, the sun. But what happens to planet-sized objects that don't have a star? A team of astronomers studying Jupiter-mass binary objects (JuMBOs) i.....»»
Did the Galileo mission find life on Earth?
In the fall of 1989, the Galileo spacecraft was launched into space, bound for Jupiter and its family of moons. Given the great distance to the king of planets, Galileo had to take a roundabout tour through the inner solar system, making a flyby of V.....»»
For your processing pleasure: The sharpest pictures of Jupiter"s volcanic moon Io in a generation
NASA's Juno spacecraft has just made the closest flybys of Jupiter's moon Io that any spacecraft has carried out in more than 20 years. An instrument on this spacecraft called "JunoCam" has returned spectacular, high-resolution images—and raw data.....»»
NASA"s Juno probe makes another close flyby of Io
The Juno spacecraft has revealed some fascinating things about Jupiter since it began exploring the system on July 4th, 2016. Not only is it the first robotic mission to study Jupiter up close while orbiting it since the Galileo spacecraft, which stu.....»»
NASA"s Lucy ready for 2024 mission milestones
After its successful first asteroid encounter in 2023, NASA's Lucy mission has its sights firmly set on its main targets, the never-before-explored Jupiter Trojan asteroids. In 2024, the Lucy spacecraft will transition from its current orbit around t.....»»
TESS discovers nine new "hot Jupiters"
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered nine new "hot Jupiter" exoplanets. One of the newly detected alien worlds is almost four times more massive than Jupiter. The finding was p.....»»
Scientists investigate how heat rises through Europa"s ocean
Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, may be capable of supporting life because its icy surface likely obscures a deep, salty ocean. Europa's ocean is also in direct contact with its mantle rocks, and interactions between rock, water, and ice could pr.....»»
Jupiter has at least three magnetosheath jets, finds Voyager 2 data study
A team of astrophysicists and astronomers from Harbin Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Peking University has found evidence from Voyager 2 data showing that Jupiter has at least three magnetosheath jets. The study is published in.....»»
Webb finds signs of possible aurorae on isolated brown dwarf
Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have found a brown dwarf (an object more massive than Jupiter but smaller than a star) with infrared emission from methane, likely due to energy in its upper atmosphere. This is an unexpected discov.....»»
Centaurs gain comet-like characteristics through close encounters with Jupiter, Saturn
A rapid reshaping of orbits resulting from a close encounter with Jupiter or Saturn can lead Centaurs to exhibit comet-like activity, according to a Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Eva Lilly paper......»»
A Jupiter-sized planet has been hiding a big secret: A 350,000-mile-long tail
WASP-69b is having a hot girl summer that never ends. The huge gaseous exoplanet, roughly the size of Jupiter and approximately 160 light years from Earth, orbits its searing host star so closely that its atmosphere is boiling away at a rate of 200,0.....»»
Juno makes its first ultra-close flyby of the volcano-covered moon Io
"The cumulative effect of all that radiation has begun to show." Enlarge / Juno flyby of Io on Dec. 30, 2023. (credit: NASA) On Saturday NASA's Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter for the better part of a d.....»»
NASA’s Juno spacecraft to pass within 1,000 miles of volcanic moon Io
NASA's Juno spacecraft, current in orbit around Jupiter, will soon be making a close flyby of one of the planet's most dramatic moons, Io......»»
NASA"s Juno to get close look at Jupiter"s volcanic moon Io on Dec. 30
NASA's Juno spacecraft will on Saturday, Dec. 30, make the closest flyby of Jupiter's moon Io that any spacecraft has made in over 20 years. Coming within roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the surface of the most volcanic world in our solar s.....»»
Researchers use VLT exoplanet hunter to study Jupiter"s winds
For the first time, an instrument to find planets light years away was used on an object in the solar system, in a study on Jupiter's winds......»»
Astrophysicists publish Kepler Giant Planet Search, an aid to "figure out where to find life"
A team of astrophysicists led by Lauren Weiss, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame, created the first-ever catalog of small, Earth-like planets with Jupiter-like siblings (planets that share.....»»
Could life exist in molecular clouds?
Our search for life beyond Earth is still in its infancy. We're focused on Mars and, to a lesser extent, ocean moons like Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus. Should we extend our search to cover more unlikely places like molecular clouds?.....»»
Juice spacecraft gears up for first ever Earth-moon gravity boost
The Juice mission is on its way to Jupiter, and it will be carrying out the first gravity assist around both Earth and the moon......»»
Astronomers discover two "hot Jupiters" orbiting red-giant stars
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered two new "hot Jupiter" exoplanets. The newfound alien worlds, designated TOI-4377 b and TOI-4551 b, both orbit distant red-giant stars. The.....»»