The mutilated surface of Jupiter’s moon Io was revealed in great detail by the Juno spacecraft, which has been exploring the Jovian system since 2016 and recently pulled off the closest flyby of the volcanic world.
Our top science stories this week include a physics experiment to turn light into matter, an update from NASA’s Juno mission (it’s about to make a close encounter with Jupiter’s moon Io), and a roundup of the best archaeological discoveries of 2023.
NASA’s curious Jupiter probe is getting chummier with the planet’s most erratic moon, Io. The Juno spacecraft will carry out the closest encounter any mission has had with the volcanic moon in over 20 years, collecting valuable clues about its mysterious activity.
Jupiter, who hurt you? Last month, NASA’s Juno mission spotted a region of the gas giant’s atmosphere forming an abject face, complete with wide eyes, a nose, and frowning mouth.
In July 2022, the Webb Space Telescope detected an intense jet shooting across the equator of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The jet is traveling at about 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour) and is about 25 miles (40 km) in altitude, corresponding to Jupiter’s lower stratosphere.
After years of capturing the massive world of Jupiter, the Juno spacecraft has recently turned its attention to its Jovian moons. During a close flyby of Jupiter’s spookiest moon, Juno imaged the charred surface of a volcanic world caught in a haunting gravitational tug.
Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher isn’t an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter for more than seven years, capturing some of the most iconic images of the planet’s swirling winds and tumultuous storms. In the most recent image from the mission, however, the gas giant poses alongside another familiar object that’s also got a lot going on.
Jupiter’s orbit is swarming with nearly 100 moons, but none are as hardcore as the volcanic world Io. That’s why it’s going to take an iconic collaboration to truly probe the odd satellite in order to unravel its many mysteries.
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