29 Jun 2016

NASA’s Juno mission will arrive at Jupiter and begin its orbit insertion manoeuvre at 4:18 am BST (5:18 am CEST) on the morning of 5th July 2016. Juno’s goals are to study Jupiter’s gravitational field, inner structure, deep atmospheric composition and magnetic environment in order to understand the origin and evolution of the giant planet. Europe has provided instrumentation for the mission and European scientists from Italy, France, Belgium, the UK and Denmark are part of the team of co-investigators that will help analyse data sent back by Juno. Amateur and professional scientists from across Europe are also involved in campaigns using ground- and space-based telescopes that will study Jupiter at a range of wavelengths to put Juno’s close-up observations into context.

The Italian contribution to Juno includes the JIRAM (Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper) instrument, which will study Jupiter’s atmosphere in and around the planet’s auroras, and the KaTS (Ka-Band Translator System) instrument, which will allow the acquisition of highly precise velocity measurements for Juno’s Gravity Science experiments. France contributed to the construction of three particle spectrometers for Juno’s JADE experiment, which will help to characterise the speed and energy of populations of particles in the electrically charged plasma that fills the Jovian magnetosphere and ultimately produce its strong aurora. Belgium provided the scan mirror mechanism for Juno’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVS) instrument, which will enable UVS to investigate specific features in Jupiter’s auroras. Denmark has provided star trackers that enable Juno’s magnetometer to determine its orientation in space.

Italian scientists will help to understand Jupiter’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the planet, and in particular to study the infrared auroras. They will also participate in gravity experiments to determine the wind depth and the mass of Jupiter’s core that is made up by heavy elements.
French astronomers are involved in the study of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, atmosphere and interior. French scientists also coordinate, on behalf of Juno’s magnetospheric working group, world-wide ground-based observations of Jupiter’s intense and complex radio emissions.

Belgian scientists are collaborating on ultraviolet and infrared observations of Jupiter and will be coordinating an international team that will use the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to observe Jupiter’s ultraviolet auroras during the one-year life of the Juno mission. This is one of the biggest HST observation programmes of a Solar System object ever granted.
UK astronomers are involved in studies of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, dynamic atmosphere and its polar auroras. They have coordinated HST observations of the effect of the solar wind on Jupiter’s auroras during Juno’s cruise phase to the giant planet.