Sun, Mar 09, 2003
NASA's Cassini Probe Sends New Shots Of Jupiter
NASA has released new images of Jupiter, captured by the Cassini
probe, while the spacecraft is on its way to Saturn have been made
public for the first time. The pictures, are being analyzed by
scientists at the Astronomy Unit at Queen Mary, University of
London.
Well, There Goes That Theory
As well as providing new views of Jupiter and its moons, they
have turned at least one scientific assumption about the giant
planet upside down. The new evidence, published in the journal
Science, revises long held beliefs about Jupiter's dark belts and
lighter zones.
For a long time, scientists studying Jupiter thought that the
pale regions were areas of rising atmosphere while air in the dark
bands was descending.
But Cassini's images suggest that the opposite is true
- light-colored zones are full of sinking atmosphere while the
darker areas indicate the noxious gases are rising.
Cassini was launched in October 1997 on a mission to
Saturn, which it should reach in July next year.
It carries the European Space Agency's Huygens probe. It will
separate from Cassini and parachute into the atmosphere of
Saturn's moon Titan, thought to be rich in valuable gases.
While We Were In The Neighborhood...
Cassini speeded to within six million miles of Jupiter
to use the "slingshot effect" - to pick up speed by getting a
gravitational kick from the planet. Scientists took the opportunity
to obtain thousands of images. The pictures clearly show Jupiter's
swirling cloud bands and the planet's famous Red Spot - thought to
be a giant storm system. Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, can also
be seen, looking like a tiny pea.
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