Mars, Pleiades, Jupiter, Saturn and Other Skywatching Highlights for March 2021
What’s Up for March? Mars and friends in the evening, and a brilliant pair of planets returns… In the first week or so of March,…
Jupiter
Wayward Comet Makes a Temporary Stop Near Jupiter’s Asteroids
Comet Comes in from the Cold and Finds an Off-Ramp on Its Sunward Journey Long road trips can be tedious and boring. That’s why many…
Juno Spacecraft Spots a Bright Explosion in Jupiter’s Atmosphere
From aboard the Juno spacecraft, a Southwest Research Institute-led instrument observing auroras serendipitously spotted a bright flash above Jupiter’s clouds last spring. The Ultraviolet Spectrograph…
NASA’s Juno Mission Expands Into the Future – To Explore Jupiter and Its Rings and Moons
The spacecraft, which has been gathering data on the gas giant since July 2016, will become an explorer of the full Jovian system – Jupiter…
NASA Extends Exploration for Juno and InSight Planetary Science Missions
As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon and on to Mars, the agency’s quest to seek answers about our solar system and…
Rare Skywatching Treat: The “Christmas Star” – Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn
Skywatchers are in for an end-of-year treat. What has become known popularly as the “Christmas Star” is an especially vibrant planetary conjunction easily visible in…
Quarter-Century Jupiter Mystery Gets Deeper and Wider With New Data From NASA’s Juno Spacecraft
The spacecraft has been collecting data on the gas giant’s interior since July 2016. Some of its latest findings touch on “hot spots” in the…
Why Do Colorful Cloud Bands Encircle Jupiter?
Why do colorful cloud bands encircle Jupiter? Jupiter’s top atmospheric layer is divided into light zones and dark belts that go all the way around…
Don’t Miss It: Jupiter, Saturn Will Look Like Double Planet for First Time Since Middle Ages
Just after sunset on the evening of December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer together in Earth’s night sky than they have been…
Potential Plumes on Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust
Scientists have theorized on the origin of the water plumes possibly erupting from Jupiter’s moon Europa. Recent research adds a new potential source to the…
Harbinger of Extraterrestrial Life? Explaining Cryovolcanic Eruptions on Jupiter’s Moon Europa
A new model shows how brine on Jupiter’s moon Europa can migrate within the icy shell to form pockets of salty water that erupt to…
Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa Glows in the Dark
New lab experiments re-create the environment of Europa and find that the icy moon shines, even on its nightside. The effect is more than just…
An Additional Planet Between Saturn and Uranus Was Kicked Out of the Solar System
Where were Jupiter and Saturn born? New work led by Carnegie’s Matt Clement reveals the likely original locations of Saturn and Jupiter. These findings refine…
NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Spots Signs That “Sprites” or “Elves” Frolic in Jupiter’s Atmosphere
An instrument on the spacecraft may have detected transient luminous events — bright flashes of light in the gas giant’s upper atmosphere. New results from…
Volcanic Impact on Jupiter’s Moon Io Shown Directly for the First Time
New radio images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show for the first time the direct effect of volcanic activity on the atmosphere of Jupiter’s…
Cyclones at Jupiter’s North Pole Appear As Swirls of Striking Colors
Cyclones at the north pole of Jupiter appear as swirls of striking colors in this extreme false-color rendering of an image from NASA’s Juno mission….
Mystery of Strange Storms on Jupiter With Unusual Geometric Pattern Solved With Help From 19th Century Physics
At the south pole of Jupiter lurks a striking sight—even for a gas giant planet covered in colorful bands that sports a red spot larger…
Hubble Captures Crisp New Portrait of Jupiter’s Turbulent Storms Raging Across the Planet
Turbulent Storms Rage Across The Giant Planet More massive than all the other planets combined, Jupiter truly is the king of our solar system. The…