Juno ASC observations of low light phenomena on the Jovian night side

John Leif Jørgensen, Finn Eskemann Jørgensen, José M.G. Merayo, Troelz Denver, Mathias Benn, Peter Siegbjørn Jørgensen, John E. P. Connerney, Ronald J. Oliversen, Stavros Kotsiaros, Scott J. Bolton, Steven Levin

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    Abstract

    The Juno spacecraft entered into a highly elliptic polar orbit about Jupiter on the 4th of July 2016. The orbit and attitude profile of the spinning spacecraft is, orbit by orbit, optimized to afford the best viewing conditions for Juno’s science instruments. The orbit plane progressively drifts from dawn-dusk towards noon-midnight, as Jupiter moves about the sun. By 2020, perijove will have advanced from dusk to midday, with each 53-day orbit increasing local time by ~15 minutes. Juno’s magnetometer investigation is mapping the Jovian magnetic field with unpreceded accuracy, for which each of its two vector magnetometers is paired with two star trackers (ASCs) providing attitude determination whenever viewing the celestial sphere. Juno’s evolving orbit and attitude profile will, however, for a short period around the perijove, bring Jupiter through the field of view of the ASC cameras. The ASC cameras will view the night side of Jupiter during these perijove passes. Jupiter will be viewed at high slant angles, typically from the horizon to the terminator; this vantage point will naturally preclude a study of details, but yields an excellent overview of luminous night side phenomena. The ASC cameras have thus far been acquiring low-light wide-field images of these regions. We present an overview of the ASC night-side Jupiter observations obtained during the first 14 orbits, including giant lightning discharges, large scale nocti-luminescent cloud top phenomena, and perspective views of the Great Red spot facilitating an assessment of cloud height.
    Original languageEnglish
    Publication date2018
    Number of pages1
    Publication statusPublished - 2018
    EventAGU Fall Meeting 2018 - Washington DC, United States
    Duration: 10 Dec 201814 Dec 2018
    https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2018/

    Conference

    ConferenceAGU Fall Meeting 2018
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityWashington DC
    Period10/12/201814/12/2018
    Internet address

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