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The radio emission of Planet Jupiter was discovered in 1955, and over the past 66 years more and more discoveries have been made, giving a tantalizing look at the operation of the signals.
A mission expansion was granted by NASA to the Juno program shortly after the spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, spotted a unique FM signal, presumably from the planetary moon Ganymede. No such detection has previously been picked up at the largest and most massive moons of the Solar System.
According to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website, the robot explorer must now continue its mission to collect data on the largest planet in our solar system and its tens of moons, at least until September 2025 or when it ceases to function.
NASA
NASA Juno images unveiled by Jovian Moon
Investigations will be extended to the larger Jovian system, which includes Jupiter rings and large moons, which are of particular interest because some are known to have water (especially Europe). In 2015, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spotted evidence that Ganymede had an underground ocean.
© AP Photo / NASA
Two views of Jupiter’s ice-covered moon, Europe
The latter discovery places the moons on a short list of the most likely places in the Solar System for primitive life.
“Since its first orbit in 2016, Juno has provided one after another revelation about the inner workings of this massive gas giant. With the extended mission, we will be answering fundamental questions that arise during Juno’s first mission as we reach beyond the planet to explore Jupiter’s ring system and Galilean satellites, ”said Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute.
‘Milestone’ Signal Sparks Speculations
Radio emissions around Jupiter were originally detected in 1955, launching extensive studies by researchers.
However, Juno observed a milestone radio emission from one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Ganymede, for five seconds as it flew past 50 km per second, or 111,847 km / h. The waves are detected in magnetic lines that connect Ganymede to the polar regions of the gas giant. The findings were published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.
As much as UFO hunters prefer to declare the signal as connected to some strange reality, the phenomenon is considered to be the result of electrons amplifying radio waves, in a process called psychotron mass instability (CMI).
“It’s not ET, it’s more of a natural feature,” NASA spokesman Patrick Wiggens told KTVX in Utah.
The phenomenon is related to the physical process, although it is shorter, causing auras to occur on Earth.
“Electrons spinning in Jupiter’s magnetic field are thought to be the cause of the radio noise we hear,” NASA added.
The Juno spacecraft was launched to Jupiter in 2011, with the task of examining how the planet formed and evolved over time, with the cut-off date for the mission to 2021.
The now extensive mission includes 42 additional orbits of Jupiter, as well as the planes of its moons Ganymede, Io and Europe.
Juno is on schedule to pass low on Ganymede on June 7, 2021, and then to Europe.
Polar cyclones at the poles of Jupiter will be studied in detail and NASA hopes to take the very first detailed study of the faint ring system that surrounds the planet.
‘The mission designers have done a wonderful job of expanding an extensive mission that preserves the mission’s most valuable resource on board – fuel. Gravity support from several satellite aircraft sends our spacecraft through the Jovian system, while providing a wealth of scientific opportunities, ”said Ed Hirst, Juno Project Manager at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).