Jovian Skies

Juno is a spacecraft that was launched by NASA on August 5, 2011. After a journey of approximately 3 billion kilometers, Juno was inserted into an elliptical orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016 where it has been orbiting and carrying out its mission ever since. Its primary mission will last until July of 2018 and the spacecraft will eventually be intentionally crushed and burned up in the atmosphere of Jupiter. With its on-board instruments and cameras, Juno has been mapping the structure of the planet surface as well as making observations of the Jovian atmosphere,[1] at some points passing as close as about 4,000 kilometers above the atmosphere.

Juno’s cameras have given us the best resolution ever seen of Jupiter’s polar clouds. It has long been known that the atmosphere of Jupiter is constantly churned by massive cyclones. One fascinating observation made by Juno is that the polar storms order themselves in geometric shapes. The south pole of Jupiter has a storm that is encircled by 5 other cyclones creating a pentagon-like structure, while Juno has shown that the north polar region has eight cyclones situated in an octagon-like structure, surrounding a central polar storm.[2]

Many who have analyzed the data from Juno have been surprised to find geometrically regular shapes, but such shapes are not without precedence. The Cassini spacecraft confirmed the presence of a hexagon-shaped storm on Saturn’s north pole, which was first observed by the Voyager Mission flyby in 1981. We are more familiar with curves on earth, but the extreme nature of storms on other worlds can result in structures containing 5, 6, and 8 points. This will be of great interest to fluid dynamic engineers, and I am quite certain that such findings on Jupiter and Saturn will lead to scientific experiments that investigate the mechanisms involved in these regular geometric structures and the implications for planetary landings and other equally interesting consequences of atmospheric fluid motion.

Beyond our scientific fascination with such storms, the raw power and distinctive structures of these other-wordly storms may also inspire the poets, writers, and theologians to see and dream about what has been created.

Some went off to sea in ships,
    plying the trade routes of the world.
They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action,
    his impressive works on the deepest seas.
He spoke, and the winds rose,
    stirring up the waves.
Their ships were tossed to the heavens
    and plunged again to the depths;
    the sailors cringed in terror.
They reeled and staggered like drunkards
    and were at their wits’ end.
“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
He calmed the storm to a whisper
    and stilled the waves.[3]

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[1] Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. "Juno (Spacecraft)," (accessed 2018-03-13), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)

[2] Nature volume555, pages216–219 (08 March 2018); doi:10.1038/nature25491

[3] Psalm 107:23-29 New Living Translation

Jupiter Through the Eyes of Juno

 

In August of 2011 a NASA rocket launch occurred. The rocket carried the Juno spacecraft on top of it and hurtled it out into space. Ever since then, Juno has been traveling toward Jupiter. In July of this year (July 4^th to be precise), Juno will arrive and settle into an orbit around the largest planet in our solar system where it will begin analyzing Jupiter and sending information back to NASA scientists on earth. It is expected that the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter for approximately 20 months and then be purposefully burned up in the upper atmosphere of the planet. NASA scientists expect the craft to render information about the amount of water in the atmosphere, measure cloud motions, map Jupiter's magnetic and gravity fields, and explore the northern and southern lights of the planet.

Once again, NASA is on the verge of amazing discoveries. We truly are in the golden days of planetary exploration. In 100 years people will look back on this time and see that it was very significant to our understanding of our place in the solar system. Humans have a healthy curiosity about our world and our universe. This is as it should be. When we look down at a blade of grass or look up into a starry sky, it is natural to wonder about how these things are made and the material out of which they are made. It is natural to ask questions about what is out there beyond what we can see with our naked eyes. Let’s celebrate this latest NASA achievement.

Timeline of the Juno Mission

• Launch - August 5, 2011
• Earth flyby gravity assist - October 2013
• Jupiter arrival - July 2016
• Spacecraft will orbit Jupiter for 20 months (37 orbits)
• End of mission (de-orbit into Jupiter) - February 2018

Europa and the Promise of Life

Just how thick is the ice on Europa? Europa is a water-ice encased moon orbiting around Jupiter and scientists are beginning to ask questions about how they might determine the thickness of this ice. We know that there is water below the ice because geysers that spew water into the tenuous atmosphere above have been detected. It is speculated that microbial or even higher eukaryotic life could exist in the water below and so there is great interest in cracking through the frigid crust to see what lies beneath.

NASA has a mission scheduled for the 2020s that would include a flyby and possibly seismic measurements.[1] Lately, it has been suggested that an empty propellant tank could be sent hurtling onto the ice while the flyby-craft could measure the ripples created by such an impact. Slower propagating waves would indicate thicker ice; faster waves would indicate thinner ice.

The international community must weigh in on the ethics of littering another moon surface with our cosmic space junk, even if the purposes could be considered noble. One must also consider that any propellant tank that originates from a DNA rich and biologically fertile world like earth, could inadvertently introduce life (or at least DNA) to a potentially fragile ecosystem. Might Earth-life compete with primitive life of another form and disrupt the natural progression on that pristine world? Might our cosmic litter disrupt the fragile ecology of other-worldly biology?

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[1] Science News, “Seismic experiment might reveal thickness of Europa’s ice,” 2015-05-25; https://www.sciencenews.org/article/seismic-experiment-might-reveal-thickness-europa’s-ice

The Dance of the Planets

 (Photo credit: Universe Today)

I have continued to enjoy the movements of Venus, Jupiter, and Mars. This particular conjunction of planets has now inspired my imagination for several weeks. Each morning I look to the east around five or six am to see if it is clear enough to see this amazing display. The relative arrangement of the three planets and the bright star, Regulus, are slightly different each day and change from hour to hour. The rate at which each one rises in the morning is dependent not only on the spin of our earth but also the movement of the planets in their orbits relative to earth’s position in her orbit around the sun. I am intrigued each day to see where each planet appears relative to the others. I am always amazed by the slightly red hue of Mars as seen from earth. This red colour is thought to be caused by the scattering of red photons in the atmosphere of Mars. The soil of Mars contains much iron that turns to a rusty red colour due to oxidation and the dust of this red iron is kicked up into her atmosphere by surface winds.

I can see why the Psalmist was inspired to write poetry about his observations of the night sky. May we never lose our sense of awe about the planets and stars.

Psalm 8 (NLT)

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

¹ O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
    Your glory is higher than the heavens.
² You have taught children and infants
    to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
    and all who oppose you.

³ When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
    the moon and the stars you set in place—
⁴ what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
    human beings that you should care for them?
⁵ Yet you made them only a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You gave them charge of everything you made,
    putting all things under their authority—
⁷ the flocks and the herds
    and all the wild animals,
⁸ the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
    and everything that swims the ocean currents.

⁹ O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

(Photo credit: Universe Today)

Venus, Mars, Regulus, and Jupiter Are Alright Tonight

Starship 21ZNA9

A good friend of mine

Studies the stars

Venus and Mars

Are alright tonight

"Venus and Mars" lyrics by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney; published by MPL Communications, Inc.

This morning, as I went for my before-sunrise-run, I was greeted by three planets and a bright star, in the eastern sky. The four points of light were Venus, highest and brightest of the four, Regulus, a bright star only 79 light years away, Mars, the red planet, and Jupiter, just above the horizon. They made an inverted vee shape as if they were flying in formation. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Conjunctions of this nature always get me dreaming about space-travel. In my mind’s eye it looked possible to just hop in a plane and fly straight to whichever spot I chose.

Venus would provide a warm but cloudy holiday with lots of carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere. Regulus would be a long journey, by any mode of transportation, and what we would find there is completely unknown. Mars is becoming the most well-known planet other than earth with the many probes, rovers, and orbiters sending back reams of scientific data. Just this past week it was learned that Mars does indeed have liquid water on its surface at certain times of its solar year. We would have a cold holiday on Mars and would have to bring along our own oxygen for breathing. Jupiter would perhaps be the most exotic vacation destination. Jupiter is a gas giant made up of clouds of frozen hydrogen and helium gas high above a core of liquid metallic hydrogen. The moons around Jupiter would be even more interesting to visit. Io, the largest of the moons, is a hotbed of volcanoes and bubbling pits of molten rock. Europa is covered with a frozen water crust. Perhaps one could have the most fantastic skating party of all time on the surface of Europa.

All of this went through my mind as I ran six kilometers on this boring old terrestrial ball. I turned and ran toward a very bright moon making its way toward setting in the west and I scared a few jack-rabbits with the padding of my athletic shoes. It was a great morning on Earth; but I was dreaming of spending time on other planets. How long will it be before we have colonies on Mars, or the moon, or Venus, or Europa? It is important that we continue to cultivate a desire for exploration that will lead us to other planets, moons, and stars. It is this inquisitive, pioneering, explorative spirit that makes us truly human.