Europlanet Science Congress 2022
Palacio de Congresos de Granada, Spain
18 – 23 September 2022
Europlanet Science Congress 2022
Palacio de Congresos de Granada, Spain
18 September – 23 September 2022
EPSC Abstracts
Vol. 16, EPSC2022-95, 2022, updated on 15 May 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2022-95
Europlanet Science Congress 2022
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Jovian Satellite and Ring Observations from the Juno Stellar Reference Unit, plus Plans for the Dark Side Perijoves

Heidi Becker1, Meghan Florence1, Martin Brennan1, Candice Hansen2, Paul Schenk3, Michael Ravine4, John Arballo1, Scott Bolton5, Jonathan Lunine6, Alexandre Guillaume1, and James Alexander1
Heidi Becker et al.
  • 1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States of America (heidi.n.becker@jpl.nasa.gov)
  • 2Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, United States of America (cjhansen@psi.edu)
  • 3Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, United States of America (schenk@lpi.usra.edu)
  • 4Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, United States of America (ravine@msss.com)
  • 5Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States of America (sbolton@swri.edu)
  • 6Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States of America (jlunine@astro.cornell.edu)

Juno’s low-light sensitive Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) navigation camera has embarked on Juno’s Extended Mission as a full-fledged member of the science payload. SRU images from Juno’s Prime Mission led to multiple discoveries within the Jovian system, inspiring new objectives that the orbit’s evolution will soon put within reach. SRU images of Jupiter’s dark side revealed the presence of “shallow lightning” flashes with origins in high altitude ammonia-water clouds above the 2 bar level. These observations fortify theories in which ammonia-water hailstones (“mushballs”) transport ammonia into Jupiter’s deep atmosphere, accounting for the ammonia variability observed at depth by Juno’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR). Images of Jupiter’s faint dust ring have been acquired from unique vantage points while inside the ring looking out, and while observing the shadow line cast by Jupiter across the dust. In June 2021, the SRU imaged Ganymede’s dark side at >79 degrees illumination angle and <920 m/pixel resolution while the surface was illuminated only by Jupiter-shine. This novel use of a low-light star tracker resolved multiple craters, surface features (such as grooved terrain), and an unusual elongated ejecta deposit in Xibalba Sulcus. These features are not resolved in the Voyager and Galileo imagery used for the USGS global geologic map of Ganymede. Our discussion will focus on proposed updates to Ganymede’s geologic record and SRU ring science. A preview of upcoming SRU observations to investigate the influence of Jupiter’s shallow thunderstorms on Jupiter’s deep atmospheric dynamics (during the dark side perijoves starting in 2023) will also be included.

How to cite: Becker, H., Florence, M., Brennan, M., Hansen, C., Schenk, P., Ravine, M., Arballo, J., Bolton, S., Lunine, J., Guillaume, A., and Alexander, J.: Jovian Satellite and Ring Observations from the Juno Stellar Reference Unit, plus Plans for the Dark Side Perijoves, Europlanet Science Congress 2022, Granada, Spain, 18–23 Sep 2022, EPSC2022-95, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2022-95, 2022.

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