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the jovian Beet

Spacecraft La unch Accomplishm ents

Piol/eer 10 3/3/72 Flybl'. First spacecrafl. to the outer


U.s. planets. Passed within 130,354 kill
of Jupiter ( 12/3/73). Imaged
cloudtops and moons, measured
Jovian atmosphere, magnetic fie ld,
interior structure, and masses of N
Galilean satellite. r--
N rn
Piol/eer J 1 4/6/73 Flvbv /0 Jupi/er and Sa/lim. Sec-
0 II) -c>
r-- ", 11\
U.S. ond spacecra ft to the outer plan- I N
ets. Passed within 43,000 km of U 0
Jupiter (12/2/74). First images of '"Z
0- C
::>
po lar regions. New flow features
observed around Great Red pot.
Deep penetration and study ofra-
diation belts. Mea ured mass of

~~
Callisto.

Voyager I 9/5/77 Fll'bv. Passed within 350,000 km


U.S. of JLJpiter (3/79). Discovered a ex:
w
faint ring, three moons. Detailed ~
imagery of atmospheric phenom- ....
ena, Gali lean sate ll ite surfaces, 0..
Europa fract ured ice mantle,
grooved te rrain on Ganymede, ac-
..,::>
tive volcanism on 10. Later pro-
vided first wide view of the solar
system.

Voyager 2 8/20/77 Flyby. Passed abo ut 650,000 km


U.S. from Jupiter(7179). Detailed imag-
ery of Jovian ring, 10 volcanism,
Call isto impact basin, Europa to-
pography (or lack thereof- icy
Europa was fou nd to be the smooth-
est body in the solar system).

Galileo 10/ 18/89 Orbiter/Probe. In December 1995,


U.s. Probe wi II enter Jovian atmosphere, 0.
and Orbiter will begin 2-year, 10-
orbit tour of Jovian system. During
Venus-Earrh-Earth gravity-assist
'"
trajectolY, perfom1ed multispectral
imaging of EaJth and Moon, and
flew by asteroid Gaspra (within
1,000 kill on 10/29/91), retuJl1ing
fir t close-up images of an asteroid.
Flyby of asteroid Ida on 8/28/93.
Ulysses 10/6/90 Flyby. On its way to the Sun, UI-
U.s./Ellropeon ysses passedabout450,000 km fi'om
Space Agency Jupiter (2/92), measuring the Jo-
vianmagnetosphere and its interac-
tion with the solar wind.
Note: Color contrasts of images in this brochure have been
enhanced 10 bring aliI delail.
jupiter: king of p~anets
Jupi ter, named after the king of the Roman gods, reign atmospheres today. Jupi ter, the inncrmo t of the icy giants,
supreme among the nine planets of our solar system, ri valing the "grew" the largest atmosphere. In fact, the face of Jupiter that
Sun in its grandem. Giant Jupiter contains two-thirds of the we see is rea ll y just the top of its atmo phere. What goc on
planetalY ma s orthe solar system. In composition it resembl es inside is even more intriguing.
a small star. Its interi or pressure may reach 100 million times Jupiter' s mass ive atmosphere creates tremendous pressures
the surface pressurc on Earth. Jupiter' s magnetic fi eld is as yo u move closer to the ccnter of the planet. Thc substances
immense, evcn in propOltion to the size of the planet, stretching inside the atm osphere are subj cct to ex trcmc condit io ns,
mi ll ions of mi les into the solar system. [f the magnetic fi eld Icadin g to exoti c chemi stry. For cxa mpl e, sc ienti sts have
were visible, it wou ld ri va l the apparent size of our Moon. reason to beli eve th at the inner layers o f hydr oge n in
Electrica l acti vity in Jupiter is so strong that it pours bi ll ions of J up it er' s atm osphere, under the pressure of the atm os phere
walts into Ealth 's own magnetic fi eld evelY day. No planet has above, may have formed into a pl anet-encircling laye r of
greater influence on its neighbors. what is ca ll ed liquid metallic hydrogen. No t exactl y an
Endowed with 16 known moons, a ring system, and an ocean, not exactl y atmos phere, thi s laye r of hydrogen wo uld
immense, complex atmosphere. Jupiter is the innermost of the ha ve propert ies th at stretch our understandin g of chemi stry.
4 giant planets (the others are Saturn , Uranus, and Neptune), and In stead o f the simpl e, free-mov ing and loose ly bonded
clearl y the most dynamic. Its atmosphere bri stles with lightning behav ior of gaseo us hydrogen. liquid metalli c hyd roge n is a
and swirls with huge storm systems, including the Great Red strange matrix capable of conductin g hugc clcctri ca l cur-
Spot, a sto rm that has persisted for at least rents. The pers istent radi o noise and
IOO- and perhaps as long a 300- yea rs. improbably strong magneti c fi eld of Ju-
With its dynamism, huge energy output, pi ter could both emanate from thi layer
and entourage of satell ites, Jupiter is in of metallic liquid . Somc scicntists theo-
many way like a small sun, and the rize that beneath this layer there i no
Jovian system resembles a miniature so- solid mass at the center ofJupiter, but that
lar system. Although Jupiter is of stellar the unique temperature and pressure con-
composition- most of its mass is hydro- ditions sustain a core whose density is
gen and helium- it does not bum li ke the more likc liquid or slush.
Sun . Models of star form ation suggest Falther from the planet's core, in
that Jupiter's mass is onl y about one- what we can more certainly call the at-
eightieth of the mass needed for ignition, mosphere, we see gases behav ing in a
which occu rs due to heating from intemal more famili ar manner, moving in gen-
gravitational collapse. Jupiter's smaller eral planetalY circulations dri ven prima-
size leaves its center too cool to ignite, ri ly by the rotati on of the planet. Jup iter
sustaining instead intemalmasses of liq- is believed to have three cloud layer in
uefied gas. its atmosphere. At the top are cloud of
Jupiter holds clues to many of th e mysteri es of the earl y ammo nia ice; beneath that ammonium-hydroge n sulfide CIYS-
solar system. About 4.5 bi lli on yea rs ago, when the solar taJs; and in the lowest layer, water icc and perhaps liq uid water.
system fo rmed out of a swirling mass o f gases and dust Jupiter is notewOlthy for its turbu lent cloudtops, and its long-
call ed the solar nebula , Jupi ter' s core probabl y began as a standing Stolnl, the Great Red Spot. The ori gins of these
solid mass of ice and rock abo ut 15 times the bulk of Ea rth. colorful fcatu res are unceltain, but scientists believe that they
The ice co ntent of Jupiter's mass was hi gh because it form ed are cau ed by plume of wanner gases that ri sc up from deep in
in the co lder outer region of the solar system, where the the planet's interior. The plumes' colors are probably caused by
neb ul a contained a lot of ice particles, principall y water and their chemical content. Although the amount of carbon, for
methane. Probab ly beca use icy masses ca n adhere and examp le, in the Jovian atmospherc is velY small , carbon readil y
compress into a sin gle large body fasterthan plain rock can, the combines with hydrogen and trace amounts of oxygen to form
outer planets formed their cores before the rocky inner planets a va ri ety of gases such as carbon monox ide, methane, and other
did. The gra vity of the large icy cores of Jupiter and Saturn orga ni c compounds. The orange and brown co lors in Jupitcr's
attracted most of the light hydrogen and heliu m gas in the clouds may be attributable to the presence of orga nic com-
nebula, and it is these gases that we find dominati ng their po un ds, or suI fur and phosphorus.
),

lDissions of discovery l

Jupiter is one of the pl anets visibl e to Pi oneer 11 , fl ew by Jupiter on its way to


the naked eye, and its path through the Saturn, and provided even more detailed
night sky has been traced for thousands imagery and measurements, including
of years. [n J61O, th e Italian astronomer our first close-up look atthe giant pl anet's
Ga lileo Galilei discovered four large polar regions. Then, in Augu st and
moons-Io, Europa, Ga nymede, and Sept ember 1977, NASA launched th e
Callisto (known as th e Ga lilean satel- two V oyager spacecraft to th e outer so-
lites)--<>rbiting Jupiter. This was one of lar system. The Voyagers' 1979 en-
the earl iest astronom ica l discoveries made counters w ith Jupiter provided us wit h
with a telescope. It fuel ed the controve r- startling, beautiful imagery of the king
sia l argu ment of th e tim e th at the Sun and of the pl anets, revea ling thousand s of
not the Earth was th e ce nter of th e solar features never before seen. Sw irling
system. [n the ce nturies since then, as multico lored turbu lence surrounded th e
telescopes improved, Jupiter becam e Great Red Spot. Ri sing plum es and
known primari Iy for its size and the Great sp inning eddies formed and dissipated,
Red Spot, w hich was imagined to be an suggesting a strong source of heat bub-
isla nd in a Jov ian sea . A s Earth-based bling up from wit hin the plan et.
astronomy co ntinued to improve, we Th e Voyager imagery, w ith its expo-
ca me to realize th at the few fu zzy " sur- Jupiter and the Galilean satelliles-/o, Europa, sure of so many small details, told us that
face" features we co uld see were con- Gallymede, and Callisto .. Jov ian dynamics we re much more com-
stantly changing in position , size, and pl ex than previously imagined. Y etm an
color, suggesting that they we re atmospheric phenomena. With of th ese features rese mble effects we know of in our 0 and
the advent of radio astronomy, we discovered that Jupiter is a other pl anetary atmospheres, magnified by th e enon I1y and
source of strong rad io-frequency noise, suggesting electrical ex tremity of the Jovian env ironment. In study ing 1upiter ecan
activity. Our fascina ti on w ith Jupiter increased . learn more about atmospheric effects and interaction s tha
In March J 972, NASA launched the Pi oneer 10 spacecraft subtle on Earth, such as magnetosphere-atmosphere
to observe the asteroid belt and Jupiter. Arriving at Jupiter in tions. Subsequent missions to th e w ill
December [973, Pioneer I 0 revea led Jupiter' s intense radiation improve models of atmosp ' 11 hel
output, its tremendous magnetic fie ld, and the probability of a understand the che
liquid interior. On e yea r sister spacecraft,

Before th e Voyager enco u


discovered, beginning w ith theG
spacecraft revea led three previo
Jupiter, bringing th e total to J6. It
close-up looks at some of the al
seen to be widely different in appeara
some cratered, and some relati ve ly syste m formation ,
and subsequent discrver ies about the w hen a bod y of la's
Neptune, and Pluto, have led size should have long
much to be learn ed about th e evol been cool and dormant
by studyi ng th e large like Ea rth 's M oon,
great example is th e startling d vo lca nism on provided sc ienti sts
10, the moon nearest Jupiter. The Voyager flybys w itnessed a w ith a new pu zz le.
total of nine spectacular vo lcanic eruptions on 10, the first tim e Tod ay we believe that
unanswered qu~stions , . ,.\

There is much to learn aboutJupiter. W edo not yet know the


detai ls of the inner chem istry and phys ics of the planet. A n
understanding o f the state of th e planet today wi ll reveal much
abou t its formation , and about the form ation of the solar system
itself. We have on ly a ve ry basic understanding of what isgoing
on in Jupiter's atmosp here, its chemistry, circul ati ons, and
interaction with th e core beneath. U nderstanding Jupiter's
atmosphere w ill no doubt shed light on the behavior of our own
atmosphere, which in ome ways resemb les, on a small scale,
that of Jupiter. We also need to know more about Jupiter 's
interaction with its moons, and about the moons th emse lves.

fa lls deeper and deeper into the atmosphere,


crus hed by the increasi ng pressure. T he Orbiter
on a l a-orbit to ur of the Jov ian system
e env iro nment, observing the pl anet, and encoun-
teri ng th e fo ur Ga lilean moons. Th e spacecraft ' s ca mera w ill
view th ese bod ies from as much as 1,000 times cl oser th an the
Voyager views. T he da ta fro m th e Ga lileo mission w ill un -
doubtedly revo luti onize our understanding of the co mplex ities
of Jupiter and the Jov ian system. Equall y certa in is th at th e
Galileo findings w ill lead to new questi ons about the king orth e
giant pl anets, and about the solar system itself.

lo ' s vo lcanism is a resu lt of gravitat ional interacti on between A ll artist's collception oj the Cali/eo spacecraft arrivillg at Jupiter.
Jupiter, [0, and the oth er satell ites, misshapi ng 10 and causing
internal friction s th at yie ld eruption s.
The Voyagers also revea led a thin, tenuous ring arou nd
Jupiter. Composed of three bands, the ring is opti call y dark,
suggesti ng it is made up of impact debri s. T he parti cles in the
ring are very fine, suggesting that the ring is short-li ved, or if not,
that it is repleni hed from some unknow n reservo ir of material.
The nature and ource of this ring system, and its re lation to
Jupiter's moons, are among the questions to be answered by
subsequent missions to Ju piter.

lo--tlie first body in llie Solar System (besides Earlh) where


aClive volcallism has been observed.

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