The beginning of a comprehensive overview of the largest planet in the solar system, which turns out to be also the most studied, if only because luckily for us it helps the spacecrafts that continue on, gain momentum
introduction
The two Voyager spacecrafts which in their flight surveyed all the gaseous planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune provided new information about these bodies, information that could not be obtained through terrestrial observations. It is true that there have been significant improvements in the telescopic equipment, including the adaptive optics, but the close-up view naturally provides information that cannot be obtained from observations made from a distance of hundreds and billions of kilometers, what is more, that these are photographs made at high resolutions.
The new information provided by these spacecraft has given the astronomical community great appetite. More and more research budgets were directed towards Tzedek. Many hours of observation were made using the Hubble Space Telescope and the CHANDRA x-ray satellite. The highlight of the research of the giant planet was done using the Galileo spacecraft which was put into orbit around it and in all the years of its activity photographed and measured it non-stop. In addition, it was equipped with a daughter spacecraft, this spacecraft, the PROBE capsule, entered the atmosphere and measured it until it was crushed (due to the high pressures in the depths of the atmosphere).
Other spacecraft are Cassini, New Horizons and Ulysses. These are spacecraft that were launched, the first to Pluto and the second to the Sun. In order to shorten their flight time to their destinations, they passed by Tzedek with the aim of taking advantage of its gravity which would accelerate their flight speed. During their passage near the star, they photographed and measured it, which made it possible to make measurements simultaneously either with Galileo or with observations from Earth. An unconventional technique that opens the door to new observational possibilities is the MRO Mars Orbit. On January 11.1.2007, 25, the compass's high-resolution camera was aimed at Jupiter. Since Mars is closer to Jupiter than the Earth during part of its movements around the Sun, the resolution capacity of this camera (a camera that photographs the ground of Mars with a resolution of 1 cm per pixel) is comparable to the photographs of the Hubble Space Telescope (2). The Ulysses spacecraft is a spacecraft that was designed to study the poles of the sun and in order to do this it was launched towards Jupiter, it used its gravity in order to change the angle of inclination in relation to the Milky Way plane. It was maneuvered so that it would pass over the poles of Jupiter and from there it was directed to the Sun so that it would pass over its poles. This flyby was used to make observations of Jupiter itself. Another terrestrial satellite whose instruments were aimed at Jupiter is the Far ultra violet spectroscopic explorer (XNUMX).
Examples of research comparing spacecraft and telescopes
The centuries-old observations of Jupiter and the findings of the Voyager spacecraft, as in all astronomical research, gave a full or partial answer to the questions regarding this planet and to the extent that they raised new questions to which they hoped to give answers either through telescopic observations or with the help of spacecraft observing it. The techniques used are simultaneous observation by spacecraft located near it and observation from Earth.
Questions that aroused great interest are:
1. What causes the bright color of the clouds such as the red pigment of the red spot, the golden hues or the brown hues?
2. The nature of the circulation of the cloud bands in the east-west direction.
3. What creates and strengthens the massive weather systems? (3)
4. The Galileo spacecraft passed by Jupiter in October 2000 and Cassini in December 2000. The findings of these passes allow a better comparison and understanding of the changes in the solar wind when it passes near Jupiter. You can study how the solar wind affects the magnetic field of Jupiter and the trapping of charged particles in this field. From previous missions to Jupiter it is known that the magnetosphere of the planets expands and contracts under the influence of the solar wind. A comparative study using Cassini and Galileo makes it possible to see exactly what the solar wind does to the atmosphere. (4)
5. The aurora borealis - comparing observations from the Hubble, Cassini, and Galileo telescopes and observations from Earth towards the magnetosphere and the solar wind, a flux of particles moving away from the Sun and inclined to move around the magnetic fields of planets is observed. The movement of auroral glows enables two things:
A. To learn what their characteristics are related to the magnetosphere because they move following the rotation of the magnetic field around the planet.
B. Learn about the particles associated with the effects of the solar wind, as their location is related to the sun.
It also turned out that the timing and location of one of the bright spots of the aurora photographed by the Hubble telescope corresponds to a pulse of electrons detected by the Galileo spacecraft in the atmosphere (5).
Another combined observation was made in February 2003 for 4 days by the Chandra satellite. During this observation, the Hubble aimed at this target for a period of one and a half hours in ultraviolet wavelengths (6).
photography techniques
The separate observations of the spacecraft and the combination between them were done in different ways in order to obtain the most possible information. Several techniques used for this purpose will be presented here.
1. Cassini on its way to Saturn photographed Jupiter months before passing by it, during the transit on 30.12.2000 and then, during each day of Jupiter, 6 or more photographs were taken with several spectral filters and at different time intervals. This move was repeated every number of days of Jupiter, so that it was possible to get coverage of every part of his face at least once every 20 hours. The photographs covering one day of Jupiter were stitched together to form a cylindrical map from latitude N°75 to 75°S at 360° longitude. The result: a film of 84 maps equivalent to 168 days of Jupiter was obtained. In these maps it is possible to notice the alternating movements of the jet streams in the west direction and in the east direction in the configuration of concentric rings around the pole and the equatorial movements in the corners. The dark spots moving counterclockwise near the equator are hot spots, places where the cloud layer is thin.
This mapping raised questions about the nature of the spirits. According to the conventional model, the bands of winds moving in changing directions of east-west are the visible edge of cylinders that rotate around themselves deep in the atmosphere in a north-south direction. The east-west winds observed in this film do not fit the model. The cylinders whose edges are supposed to create these strips have to pass through the innermost parts of the planet, places where the cylinders with different rotations around themselves, cannot exist for long. Jupiter's wind pattern appears to be a mix of self-rotating cylinders near the equator and other circulation mechanisms near the poles (7). During a pass by Jupiter, Cassini transmitted to Israel 26,000 photographs of Jupiter, its moons and rings. The duration of the observation is 6 months (8).
2. In January and February 2007, the New Horizon spacecraft passed by Jupiter and photographed it. At the same time, the Hubble telescope and the European Observatory in Chile were also pointing towards Jupiter. This combination made it possible for the first time to observe the Little Red Spot. The observations from Earth were made in ultraviolet and mid-infrared wavelengths. The researchers combined the maps of the cloud movement made by the New Horizon, visible light photographs from Hubble and mid-infrared photographs from the terrestrial telescope. This technique makes it possible to distinguish thermal structures and dynamics below the visible light clouds. These observations confirmed the assumption that the thermal structure, wind speed and wind characteristics of the Little Red Spot are similar to those of the Great Red Spot. Both of these spots reach the stratosphere and to greater heights than smaller storms on Jupiter (9). The New Horizon broadcast to Israel 700 photographs of Jupiter, its moons and rings (10).
Sources
1. "Mars orbiter views Jupiter" 31.1.2007
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0701/31hirisejupiter
2. Clarck S. - "King of plants will propel probe to Pluto" 27.02.2007
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0702/27jupiterflyby/
3. Milton B., Bond P. "Oxford scientists uncover the strange working of Jupiter's great red spot and other secrets of Juvian atmosphere" 27.03.1998
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/news13.html
4. "Galileo Millennium mission status" 19.06.2000
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/news/status/status000619.html
5. "Jupiter particles escape route found" 31.05.2001
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/news/release/press010531-1.html
6. Roy S. Watzke M. – “Chandra probes high-voltage auroras on Jupiter” 2.3.2005
http://chandra.harvard.edu/press05_releases/press_030205.html
7. "Cassini image of Jupiter" 16.7.2001
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiterflyby/gallery/gl_pages/cass_polar_sm.html
8. "Rising storms revise story of Jupiter's stripes" 10.3.2003
Http:// www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-clouds-03a.html
9. "Mighty winds blow in Jupiter's little red spot" 21. 5.2008
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0805/21littleredspot/
10. "Jupiter encounter begins for new horizons spacecraft on route to Pluto" 11.01.2007
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Jupiter_Encounter_Begins_For_New_Horizons_Spacecraft_On_Route_To _Pluto_999.html
