This improved image of the Jovian moon Ganymede was gotten by the JunoCam imager aboard NASAs Juno spacecraft throughout the missions June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. Data from that pass has been used to detect the presence of salts and organics on Ganymede. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS/Kalleheikki Kannisto © CC BY
Data collected by NASAs Juno objective indicates a briny past might be bubbling to the surface area on Jupiters biggest moon.
NASAs Juno objective has actually observed mineral salts and natural substances on the surface area of Jupiters moon Ganymede. Information for this discovery was gathered by the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) spectrometer aboard the spacecraft during a close flyby of the icy moon. The findings, which could help researchers better understand the origin of Ganymede and the composition of its deep ocean, were published on October 30 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Bigger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede is the most significant of Jupiters moons and has long been of great interest to researchers due to the huge internal ocean of water surprise below its icy crust. Previous spectroscopic observations by NASAs Galileo spacecraft and Hubble Space Telescope as well as the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope hinted at the presence of salts and organics, however the spatial resolution of those observations was too low to make a decision.
On June 7, 2021, NASAs Juno spacecraft flew closer to Jupiters ice-encrusted moon Ganymede than any spacecraft in more than 2 decades. Less than a day later on, Juno made its 34th flyby of Jupiter. Artificial frames were added to offer views of method and departure for both Ganymede and Jupiter.
Junos Close Approach and Findings.
On June 7, 2021, Juno flew over Ganymede (see video above) at a minimum elevation of 650 miles (1,046 kilometers). The instrument has also been used to use insights into the surface of moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (understood jointly as the Galilean moons for their innovator, Galileo).
This appearance at the complex surface of Jupiters moon Ganymede came from NASAs Juno objective throughout a close pass in June 2021. At closest technique, the spacecraft came within simply 650 miles (1,046 kilometers) of Ganymedes surface. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS, Image processing by Thomas Thomopoulos.
The JIRAM data of Ganymede acquired throughout the flyby accomplished an unprecedented spatial resolution for infrared spectroscopy– better than 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) per pixel. With it, Juno researchers were able to detect and examine the unique spectral functions of non-water-ice products, consisting of hydrated salt chloride, ammonium chloride, salt bicarbonate, and perhaps aliphatic aldehydes.
” The existence of ammoniated salts suggests that Ganymede might have accumulated products cold enough to condense ammonia throughout its development,” stated Federico Tosi, a Juno co-investigator from Italys National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome and lead author of the paper. “The carbonate salts might be residues of carbon dioxide-rich ices.”.
Processed data from the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) spectrometer aboard NASAs Juno objective is superimposed on a mosaic of optical images from the firms Galileo and Voyager spacecraft that reveal grooved terrain on Jupiters moon Ganymede. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ ASI/INAF/JIRAM/ Brown University.
Exploring Other Jovian Worlds.
Previous modeling of Ganymedes electromagnetic field determined the moons equatorial region, up to a latitude of about 40 degrees, is shielded from the energetic electron and heavy ion bombardment produced by Jupiters hellish electromagnetic field. The presence of such particle fluxes is well understood to adversely impact salts and organics.
During the June 2021 flyby, JIRAM covered a narrow series of latitudes (10 degrees north to 30 degrees north) and a wider series of longitudes (minus 35 degrees east to 40 degrees east) in the Jupiter-facing hemisphere.
” We discovered the biggest abundance of salts and organics in the dark and bright surfaces at latitudes safeguarded by the electromagnetic field,” stated Scott Bolton, Junos principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “This recommends we are seeing the remnants of a deep ocean salt water that reached the surface of this frozen world.”.
This picture of Jupiters moon Europa was taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASAs Juno spacecraft on October 16, 2021, from a distance of about 51,000 miles (82,000 kilometers). Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS. Image processing: Andrea Luck CC BY.
Ganymede is not the only Jovian world Juno has actually zipped. The moon Europa, believed to harbor an ocean under its icy crust, also came under Junos look, first in October 2021 (see image above) and then in September 2022. Now Io is receiving the flyby treatment. The next close technique to that volcano-festooned world is scheduled for Dec. 30, when the spacecraft will come within 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Ios surface area.
Reference: “Salts and organics on Ganymedes surface observed by the JIRAM spectrometer onboard Juno” by Federico Tosi, Alessandro Mura, Alessandra Cofano, Francesca Zambon, Christopher R. Glein, Mauro Ciarniello, Jonathan I. Lunine, Giuseppe Piccioni, Christina Plainaki, Roberto Sordini, Alberto Adriani, Scott J. Bolton, Candice J. Hansen, Tom A. Nordheim, Alessandro Moirano, Livio Agostini, Francesca Altieri, Shawn M. Brooks, Andrea Cicchetti, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Davide Grassi, Alessandra Migliorini, Maria Luisa Moriconi, Raffaella Noschese, Pietro Scarica, Giuseppe Sindoni, Stefania Stefani and Diego Turrini, 30 October 2023, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-023-02107-5.
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno objective for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASAs New Frontiers Program, which is handled at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the firms Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
NASAs Juno objective has actually observed mineral salts and organic compounds on the surface area of Jupiters moon Ganymede. On June 7, 2021, NASAs Juno spacecraft flew closer to Jupiters ice-encrusted moon Ganymede than any spacecraft in more than two years. On June 7, 2021, Juno flew over Ganymede (see video above) at a minimum elevation of 650 miles (1,046 kilometers). The instrument has likewise been utilized to use insights into the surface of moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (known jointly as the Galilean moons for their originator, Galileo).
Ganymede is not the only Jovian world Juno has actually flown by.
