(ORDO NEWS) — The main goal of NASA‘s newest Jovian mission, Juno, is to deepen our understanding of the origin of the solar system through the study of the origin and evolution of Jupiter.
To achieve this goal, the mission is supposed to solve the following main tasks:
– to determine how much water is in the atmosphere of Jupiter – this will help to decide in favor of one of several different theories of the origin of the planet (or to identify the need to create a new theory);
– “look” deep into the atmosphere of Jupiter and measure the temperature in these layers, the parameters of the movement of clouds and other properties of the atmosphere;
– make maps of Jupiter’s magnetic and gravitational fields, giving the keys to understanding the internal structure of the planet;
– to explore and explore Jupiter’s magnetosphere in the region of the planet’s poles, with special attention to auroras – as phenomena that reflect the interaction between the powerful magnetic field of the planet and its atmosphere.
Most theories about the origin of the solar system begin with the collapse of a giant cloud of gas and dust, or nebula, most of which eventually became part of the “newborn” Sun.
Just like the Sun, Jupiter is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium, so it must have formed early, capturing most of the material left over from the formation of the Sun in the process of condensation. However, the mechanism of these processes is still unclear.
Did an initially massive planetary core form, which captured all this gas by the action of its gravity, or did an unstable region collapse inside the nebula, which triggered the formation of planets? The difference between these two versions is fundamental.
No less important will be the study of the composition and role of planetesimals, or small protoplanets, in the formation of a giant planet.
Unlike the Earth, the gigantic mass of Jupiter allowed it to retain its original composition, which allows us to “look” through the study of this planet into the history of the solar system.
The Juno apparatus will measure the amount of water and ammonia in Jupiter’s atmosphere and determine whether the planet has a solid core, which will unambiguously resolve the issue of the origin of Jupiter, and with it some of the questions about the origin of the solar system.
Mapping Jupiter’s gravitational and magnetic fields will reveal the planet’s internal structure and measure the mass of its core.
Deep in Jupiter’s atmosphere, under high pressure, hydrogen gas is compressed into a liquid known as metallic hydrogen. At these great depths, hydrogen behaves like an electrically conductive metal, which is thought to be the source of the planet’s powerful magnetic field.
This powerful magnetic field creates the brightest auroras in the solar system when charged particles moving through it are deposited in the planet’s atmosphere.
Juno will, for the first time in the history of science, directly measure the number of charged particles and the intensity of magnetic fields near Jupiter’s poles, while making UV observations of the auroras caused by the influx of huge amounts of energy into the circumpolar regions of the giant planet.
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