PIA21938: Jupiter's Northern Lights


Jupiter’s Northern Lights

Caption:

Click here for animation of PIA21938
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This is a reconstructed view of Jupiter's northern lights through the filters of Juno's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVS) instrument on Dec. 11, 2016, as the Juno spacecraft approached Jupiter, passed over its poles, and plunged towards the equator. Such measurements present a real challenge for the spacecraft's science instruments: Juno flies over Jupiter's poles at 30 miles (50 kilometers) per second -- more than 100,000 miles per hour -- speeding past auroral forms in a matter of seconds.

Background Info:

More information about Juno is online at http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu .

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Jupiter
System Jupiter
Target Type Planet
Mission Juno
Instrument Host Juno
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Movie, Ultraviolet
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2017-09-06
Date in Caption 2016-12-11
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21938
Identifier PIA21938