Newly released data from NASA’s Juno reveals Jupiter’s amazing stars

Image enhanced by Kevin M. Gill from NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS of Jupiter during Juno’s 62nd perijove on June 12, 2024 (CC-BY).

NASA’s multi-billion dollar spacecraft Juno has beamed back more stunning images from the Jovian system.

The solar-powered probe has been in orbit around the giant planet since 2016. Its highly elliptical orbit means the probe spends most of its time far from Jupiter’s cloud tops. About once a month, the probe approaches Jupiter’s poles, where it turns on its cameras.

On June 14th, Junho will be Perijube Data collected by JunoCam was transmitted to Earth via NASA’s Deep Space Network during the flyby and over the next few days. While the Juno mission doesn’t have a dedicated imaging team, citizen scientists around the world have instant access to raw data from JunoCam. Some of those images are collected here.

The new images returned include several of Io, Jupiter’s moon and the most volcanically active body in the solar system. One photo appears to show a plume of sulfur reaching hundreds of miles into space. The moon is pulled in different directions in its orbit by the gravity of Jupiter and its three other large moons. Frictional heat buildup inside the moon causes constant and widespread volcanic activity. Io was recently photographed from Earth.

Juno is carrying 11 scientific instruments designed to study the Jovian system. During the mission, it has found evidence of Earth-sized storms and a chaotic magnetic field, Jupiter’s famous pink belt reaches deep into the atmosphere, and the gas giant’s core is larger than previously thought.

Since arriving at Jupiter in 2016, Juno has flown close by three of Jupiter’s giant Galilean moons — Europa, Ganymede and Io — and taken some of the best images yet of the planet with JunoCam. But it has yet to visit the fourth giant moon, Callisto.

Callisto won’t remain unexplored for long. With the expected disappearance of Juno next year, there will be no spacecraft in orbit around the giant planet for the next few years. But two are due to arrive in the early 2030s. NASA’s Europa Clipper will circle Jupiter’s moons in 2030, focusing on Europa, while the European Space Agency’s Jupiter ICy moon explorer is due to arrive in 2031, making 21 close passes by Callisto before finally going into orbit around Ganymede.

Juno’s 63rd Perijube Starting on July 17, Juno will complete its mission on September 15, 2025 with its 76th exploration “death dive” into the gas giant. Perijube.

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