Have you ever looked up at the sky through a telescope? A little over 400 years ago an Italian named Galileo Galilei had the opportunity to use a new invention called a “come up glass” as he sat on his balcony late at night. He was watching for ships to come into the harbor, but since none were there, he turned the glass towards the night sky instead. When he looked at Jupiter, he was astonished. He noticed there were four other “moonlets” on either side of the planet. Since that time many people have studied the sky with optical aids and wondered about what they saw.
Because Galileo’s discoveries changed the way science thought the solar system worked and he did so much good work with his studies, NASA planned a space mission to explore Jupiter and the four Galilean moons and sent it out to spend many years orbiting the gas giant and its companions.
On its way to Jupiter, Juno needed a little help from Earth to give it a push using Earth’s gravity so Juno swung around Earth. When that happened, hundreds if not thousands of amateur radio operators and their families and students sent a message, all at the same time, to say “HI” to Juno.
Once the spacecraft was launched, it made contact with Earth scientists via the Goldstone Tracking Station in California or other satellite receivers that are placed in particular places around Earth. Messages are sent, scientists study the messages and figure out the answers to their burning questions. For Juno, the burning questions are: How is Jupiter like Earth? How did the solar system form? Does Jupiter have a core?
For a little more than two years Juno orbited the poles of Jupiter collecting data about Jupiter’s mass and using special tools to learn answers to the burning questions. At the end of that time, Juno was supposed to be told to plunge into the atmosphere of Jupiter to be crushed like an aluminum can, but because of the amazing discoveries and the success of the mission, it has been extended to 2025.
This mission has been an amazing success and information from the past six years of the Juno mission has been thrilling the scientists who are using the information. The planet itself is a work of surreal art of swirling clouds and blasts of robust colors creating a constantly changing kaleidoscope of patterns that delight anyone who sees them. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/juno
Get up early and go out and look east before dawn to see Jupiter for yourself. Until next week, KLU.
