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As Juno is approaching its target, researchers turned their telescopes again to Jupiter, this time by measuring radio waves emitted by the space body. The observatory placed in New Mexico reached 60 miles deep into the planet’s atmosphere and discovered heavy layers of ammonia in the Jupiter clouds.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, and probably the most beautiful one. The planet is a gas giant that can be seen from the Earth, being almost as bright as Venus.
The planet contains hydrogen and helium and lacks a solid surface. Its atmosphere is segregated into several bands that interact in storms, one of the largest being the Great Red Spot. Jupiter also has at least 67 moons.
Going Below Jupiter Clouds
Jupiter is hard to observe through a telescope because of its very fast rotation. Conventional radio images need a significant amount of time in order to form, and the planet’s rotation makes them fussy in a few minutes.
The radio images showed dark bands of ammonia gases that floated over low-ammonia gases inside the atmosphere of Jupiter. The turbulence between bands appears not just on the surface of the planet, but also inside it, as gases layers separate themselves due to the difference in density and create explosive chemical reactions at their borders.
Jupiter’s Gas Composition
Ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, is an important constituent of the planet’s atmosphere, and its concentration changes with altitude. Ammonia was also the first polyatomic molecule to be detected in space. It has been found to exist in all the gas giants and also in the two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos.
Jupiter was explored several times before, during missions such as Pioneer, Voyager or Galileo. The planet is tough to study, as it has a fast rotation, powerful magnetic fields, and radiation belts. The last probe that was dropped into Jupiter’s atmosphere lasted only 57 minutes before being destroyed by increased heat and pressure.
Juno Meets Jupiter
The study comes as a preparation for the arrival of Juno, a probe that was launched in 2011 from Earth and will reach the proximity of Jupiter next month. Juno has an armor built from titanium to resist radiations, and it will be fueled by solar arrays.
This time, Juno was built out of titanium in order to resist the internal forces of the gas planet. The probe will reach Jupiter clouds at the beginning of July, and scientists hope it will help them reach new conclusions on what the internal composition of the planet is and how it was formed.
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