NASA’s Juno probe creates stunning map of Jupiter’s largest moon



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It is so big that it has its own magnetic field.

Ganymede card

It’s been ten years since NASA launched its Juno space probe to study Jupiter and its many moons – and its latest images of the gas giant and its satellites are still stunning.

Now, Juno created a beautiful infrared map of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, during a flyby late last month using his Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM).

The map could help us fill in the gaps in our knowledge of massive space rock and help us better understand the giant oceans that lurk beneath its ice shell.

Ganymede is huge, having a larger volume than Mercury or Pluto. It even has its own magnetic field, making it the only moon to have one.

Probe Ganymede

According to a recent update from NASA, JIRAM allows Juno to probe deep inside Ganymede’s shell, making details 30 to 45 miles below the cloud tops of Jupiter.

But it can also help us study the makeup of Jupiter’s other 79 moons, especially its Galilean moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

During its overflight on July 20, it approached only 31,136 miles from the surface of Ganymede. He had the first glimpse of the northern polar region of Ganymede and was able to study how its composition changes between low and high latitudes.

Despite its size and magnetic field, Ganymede has no atmosphere and is extremely vulnerable to the harsh space environment.

“We found the high latitudes of Ganymede dominated by water ice, with a fine grain size, which is the result of intense bombardment of charged particles,” said Alessandro Mura, Juno co-investigator of the National Institute of astrophysics of Rome, in the NASA update. .

“Conversely, low latitudes are protected by the moon’s magnetic field and contain more of its original chemical composition, including constituents other than water ice such as salts and organic matter. “, he added.

It’s an astonishing conclusion to ten years of space exploration. Juno’s next targets are Jupiter’s North Pole, as well as its moons Europa and Io – so stay tuned for more breathtaking footage.

READ MORE: NASA’s Juno Celebrates 10 Years with New Infrared View of the Moon Ganymede [NASA]

Learn more about Juno: NASA’s spacecraft takes stunning photos of Jupiter’s largest moon

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