Jupiter Flashcards
What is the gravity on the equator of Jupiter in Ge
2.36
Which Danish astronomer made the first of its kind calculation, based on what he observed on Jupiter
name, dates, details etc,
Ole Romer in 1676 made the first estimate of the speed of light,
He had noticed that eclipses and transits of Jupiters moons dont always occur at periodic times, because of the variation in the time in takes light to reach earth
What is the orbital period of Jupiter
11.86 years
What is the order of the Galilean moons, and their orbital resonances
Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
1:2:4 for the first three
When did Shoemaker Levy 9 hit Jupiter
What did the spacecraft Galileo notably do in 1995
Between what years did Galileo orbit Jupiter (what happened to it in the end)
1994
In 1995 Galileo launced a probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere
1995-2003
In the end Galileo was flown into Jupiter to avoid contaminating the Galilean moons
When did Juno reach Jupiter
July 2016 (orbital insertion)
it entered a polar orbit and study jupiter’s magnetic fields and atmosphere
How many groups are Jupiter’s satelites broken down into
What are they called
4 Inner moons (Amalthea group - the largest and first to be discovered of the inner moons) (4)
Galilean moons (4)
and the outer moons (71 or more) - these may be prograde or retrograde with high inclinations of eccentricities - most are very tiny.
Why is Callisto the colour it is
It is darkened from solar radiation
with white marks from fresh impact crators exposing the icy rock
Callisto is often described as the most heavily cratered body in the solar system
What was the first spacecraft to flyby Jupiter and when
When were the first detail pictures of the moons made
Pioneer 10 in 1973
Moon pics came in 1979 when V1 and 2 passed by.
What is the diameter in km of:
Io:
Europa:
Io: 3640 km approx
Europa: 3122km
What is the diameter of Jupiter
142,984km
What is the diameter in km of:
Ganymede:
Callisto:
Ganymede: 5262km
Callisto: 4821km
What is the mass of Jupiter in Me
318
What is the mean cloud top temperature
-108C
What is the axial tilt of Jupiter
3.1
How many moons does Jupiter have
92 confirmed
What is the mean distance from the Sun in AU
5.2
What is the rotation period of Jupiter
9.93 hours
To what does Io owe its colourful surface
Unique properties of sulfur, which can take several different forms with different physical properties
Which British astromer was the first to measure the diameter of Jupiter
James Bradley in 1733
Who was first to suggest Jupiter was a gas giant and not made of rock
American George Hough in 1903
Aside from its size what is Ganymede’s claim to fame
It is the only moon with a significant magnetic field
-features in this field suggest an ocean between layers of ice
What confirmed the existance of active volcanism on Io
The discovery of a 300km volcanic plume from the volcano Pele by Voyager 1 in 1979
What are the white and dark bands respectively called on Jupiter
Where does the whiteness come from
Which are colder
Which ones represent upwellings, and which descending air
Zones and Belts
The whiteness of zones is believed to come as a result of ammonia ice
Zones are colder and correspond to upwellings
Belts correspond to descending air
At least that is the simplest explanation for the way they act
How deep do the jets streams go, that drive the belts and zones
what marks the boundary layer
3000km
At this depth the magnetic fields become significant because the pressures are high enough to create Jupiter’s liquid metal hydrogen mantle
somehow the magnetic fields are responsible for setting the depth of the jet streams
Does Jupiter have a solid core?
why is this issue important
Evidence from Juno suggests no - but it could have a dissolving core of rock and ice mixed with hydrogen
It will help determine which theory of Jupiter’s formation is correct, which could have knock on consequences for the rest of the solar system
it would strengthen the condensed cloud theory - Jupiter formed from the large cloud of gas and dust that surrounded the Sun soon after its birth. As this cloud cooled and condensed, gas and dust particles lumped together so that some regions were denser than others. One of these dense splotches was able to gravitationally pull more and more gas and dust together, swelling into a full-fledged planet.
What is the largest Jupiter Trojan asteroid?
How big is it?
What type of asteroid is it
Anything particularly interesting about its structure
Hektor
It’s in the Greek camp of Trojans (and therefore a ‘spy’) - this is because it was named before the naming of Greek and Trojan camps
Its around 403 x201km - so big. (on average 250km)
Its a D-type asteroid [dark and reddish] (common for some of the larger Jupiter Trojans) - and may have an outer solar system origin
It is likely to be a contact binary (Ultima Thule) and it has a small moon. Cool eh?
What was the first Jupiter Trojan to be discovered
What is the biggest in each camp?
What asteroid types are they?
Binary or not?
Achilles [Greek cam] (1906)
Patrocles (in Trojan camp) (this is a non-contact binary)
Hektor (in Greek camp) (a contact binary)
They are all D-type
What is the NASA Mission to visit five Jupiter Trojans
When will it arrive?
Which is the really big asteroid it will visit
Lucy (eta 2027)
It will go to four moons in the Trojan cloud, before visiting Patrocles in the Greek cloud
What will the juice mission do
When will it first arrive - why will it take so long
Whose mission is it
The ice moons explorer will do flybys around Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, before settling j to orbit around Ganymede
It launched in 2023 and will orbit Jupiter from 2031. It Willy ake this long because there wasn’t enough energy for a direct flight so it will have to do a number of gravity assist manoeuvres , including around Venus
ESA mission
What is the complementary Jupiter mission to Juice
Europa clipper,
This launches in late 2024 and arrives in 2030
Mission is to see if Europa could harbour life
Where does the Lucy mission get its name from
The fossil Australopithecus because the trojans are thought to be fossils of the early solar system
