With great fanfare, the Juno probe arrived at Jupiter last year. Now, the first science from the little probe is getting shared, and it’s pretty cool. In a NASA press release, Juno principle investigator Scott Bolton said, “We knew, going in, that Jupiter would throw us some curves, but now that we are here we are finding that Jupiter can throw the heat, as well as knuckleballs and sliders. There is so much going on here that we didn’t expect that we have had to take a step back and begin to rethink of this as a whole new Jupiter.”
Of the science that Juno has shared, that from Jupiter’s poles show us the newest and most interesting stuff. Tightly packed ammonia-ice storms dominate the Jovian polar scene. The largest of these is on the northern pole and measures about 7000 km in diameter – about the same diameter as the Earth!.
Jupiter’s southern pole.
Juno is currently in a polar orbit around Jupiter, so more science (and cool pics) is in the works. The next pass will be July 11th.
Photo credits: NASA/JPL
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