r/spaceporn • u/RyanSmith • Oct 01 '17
Hubble Captures Vivid Auroras in Jupiter’s Atmosphere [2224 x 2216]
147
u/RyanSmith Oct 01 '17
Astronomers are using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study auroras — stunning light shows in a planet’s atmosphere — on the poles of the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter. This observation program is supported by measurements made by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, currently on its way to Jupiter. Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is best known for its colorful storms, the most famous being the Great Red Spot. Now astronomers have focused on another beautiful feature of the planet, using Hubble's ultraviolet capabilities. The extraordinary vivid glows shown in the new observations are known as auroras. They are created when high-energy particles enter a planet’s atmosphere near its magnetic poles and collide with atoms of gas. As well as producing beautiful images, this program aims to determine how various components of Jupiter’s auroras respond to different conditions in the solar wind, a stream of charged particles ejected from the sun. This observation program is perfectly timed as NASA’s Juno spacecraft is currently in the solar wind near Jupiter and will enter the orbit of the planet in early July 2016. While Hubble is observing and measuring the auroras on Jupiter, Juno is measuring the properties of the solar wind itself; a perfect collaboration between a telescope and a space probe. “These auroras are very dramatic and among the most active I have ever seen”, said Jonathan Nichols from the University of Leicester, U.K., and principal investigator of the study. “It almost seems as if Jupiter is throwing a firework party for the imminent arrival of Juno.” Credits: NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols (University of Leicester)
41
u/cathdog888 Oct 01 '17
Wishing I had this job, that sounds awesome
7
2
u/tom_the_red Oct 01 '17
It is pretty awesome at times, but as with any job, there are always difficult and tiresome aspects too.
1
3
Oct 01 '17
in /earthporn, someone photoshopped dickbutt as a constellation . this thought is my knee-jerk reaction thought to every nice thing now.
182
u/mynameiswillem Oct 01 '17
Does this mean Jupiter has a magnetic field like Earth?
197
u/RyanSmith Oct 01 '17
Yes, a very strong one.
66
Oct 01 '17 edited Mar 22 '18
[deleted]
53
Oct 01 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
-10
5
2
u/merkin_juice Oct 02 '17
Somebody needs to get a diamond anvil cell into the hands of the hydraulic press guy.
5
u/QueenOfTonga Oct 01 '17
So does THAT mean that Jupiter has an iron core?
12
u/tom_the_red Oct 01 '17
Its magnetic field is mostly driven by conduction in high-pressure hydrogen, which, in its core acts as a metal. There may well be an Earth-sized rocky-metal core, but this is unlikely to contribute significantly to the magnetic field of the planet.
17
u/Astromike23 Oct 02 '17
high-pressure hydrogen, which, in its core acts as a metal.
Not in its core, but its mantle.
There may well be an Earth-sized rocky-metal core
Our best guess is that it has a ~20 Earth-mass rocky-icy core. Even though the core of Jupiter has a temperature somewhere around 25,000 C, the core pressure is exceedingly high, on the order of 50 million atm (where 1 atm = atmospheric pressure at Earth sea level). Under such conditions, the most stable form of water is ice - hot ice - that is very different in phase and crystal structure to ice we normally see on Earth.
For more on exotic phases of water ice, see here.
8
2
Oct 01 '17
Well thanks to you and your link, I'm now reading about wave particle duality. That damned rabbit hole, I'm meant to be asleep!
270
u/FriarMaxwell292 Oct 01 '17
CRAP. ALIENS
74
u/_demetri_ Oct 01 '17
Aliens 4th of July Celebration
→ More replies18
u/Rootbeer_Goat Oct 01 '17
Looks like some gosh darn music festival with a bunch of preteen alienoids running around all hopped up on crystals!
5
1
→ More replies1
u/ShinjoB Oct 01 '17
In outer space it's black as night, And something's moving speed of light, Something looking for a fight, Here come the aliens.
39
30
19
16
15
u/Langweile Oct 01 '17
Looks like the Traveler just took out Ghaul, better start preparing for the spooky pyramid ships.
6
u/-OrangeLightning4 Oct 01 '17
The Vex are definitely doing some shit on IO there, that's the Pyramidion bud.
54
u/papiforyou Oct 01 '17
Jewpiter
6
6
u/JaRulesOpinion Oct 01 '17
Alright that was pretty good
7
3
8
2
7
u/apolotary Oct 01 '17
How many Earths can we squeeze into an area the size of that thing?
10
Oct 01 '17 edited Oct 05 '18
[deleted]
18
Oct 01 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
23
u/realBotsFightingBots Oct 01 '17
The only good bot is a dead bot.
<pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew> <pew>
8
11
3
2
1
7
6
u/SuperSaiyanCrota Oct 01 '17
It's probably just Xur and the rest of the nine making duplicates to give next week
6
5
4
4
3
3
u/oxymoronic_oxygen Oct 01 '17
What's that greenish hue slightly above the equator?
5
u/Astromike23 Oct 02 '17
That's an effect of the not-quite-real-color used in this image.
Those regions should more properly be light blue (as indicated by the arrow here). These are some of the rare cloud clearings that occur in very strong downwelling regions. We're actually peering through the ammonia top cloud layer, and perhaps even down through the ammonium hydrosulfide middle cloud layer and the bottom water cloud layer. So, in those regions we're looking at just clear air, which has the exact same color as it does one Earth, blue. This is entirely due to Rayleigh scattering, the same reason that Earth's sky is blue.
3
3
6
4
Oct 01 '17
[deleted]
2
u/TheSilverOne Oct 01 '17
is this a yamaka joke, or an observation on how Jupiter has more moons than the rest of the planets in the solar system?
2
2
2
2
2
u/Duane_ Oct 01 '17
Those are planets across. That's the amazing part to me. I get that it's something that happens on a planetary scale by default, but that instance is probably fifteen earths wide.
2
2
2
2
u/Reverieon Oct 02 '17
It looks like the traveler is visiting Io for real now. I hope I'm reborn a Titan.
2
2
2
2
2
3
u/beachbound2 Oct 01 '17
I get why ppl post renderings but honestly I want the actual image. All these images just look like a photoshop/created image and that's not as interesting
4
u/tom_the_red Oct 01 '17
How's this:
2
u/youtubefactsbot Oct 01 '17
This movie of Jupiter's ultraviolet aurora consists of successive images obtained with the STIS imaging spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The images were obtained in Time Tagged mode and each frame is a collection of UV photons accumulating for 30 seconds. The left panel is the corrected image with North upward. It is showing either the northern or the southern hemisphere of Jupiter. The right panel is the corresponding polar view fixed in System 3 coordinates (10-deg grid). Both views are background subtracted and Brightness is given in units of kiloRayleigh of H2 emission. This movie is a low resolution preview which should not be used for scientific studies.
Denis Grodent in People & Blogs
22 views since Sep 2017
1
2
u/HashDaWook Oct 01 '17
Check out doc series called The Planets hosted by Mike Massimino..first episode is all bout Jupiter
2
u/infamousnexus Oct 01 '17
Looks fake. Bet like half these NASA things, they just add fake colors that you couldn't see if you were physically there cuz the human eye can't recognize them.
2
u/SadGhoster87 Oct 01 '17
False-color images are fake news media making things up! Rah rah rah! Pitchforks!
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/themarkavelli Oct 01 '17
5/5 stars but am slightly perturbed by how it don't curve with the curves.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/jugalator Oct 02 '17
My false color sense is tingling. :D Still, imagine the size of those auroras!
1
1
u/tocado Oct 02 '17
How come Jupiters storms are all completely vertical, and not the least bit spherical like the aurora light? Never thought about it before, but this picture really makes it stand out.
1
u/KayJay24 Oct 01 '17
That’s the most alien ass shit I ever did see, anyone who thinks or says otherwise works for the Government.
1
Oct 02 '17
Definitely a space battle someone call will smith. Either from independence day or MiB, not after earth
1
1
u/stinknus Oct 02 '17
Don't believe NASA's lies the Illuminati are working on a doomsday weapon on Jupiter north pole. They must be conspiring with The Jupiter Santa.
602
u/rauf107 Oct 01 '17
This is how it would like to a naked eye?