JIRAM instrument Juno arrival press kit 01072016 223752

Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) is an instrument on the ''Juno'' spacecraft in orbit of the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. It is an image

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and was contributed by Italy. Similar instruments are on ESA ''

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Venus Express ''Venus Express'' (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. ...

'', and '' Cassini-Huygens'' missions. The primary goal of JIRAM is to probe the upper layers of Jupiter's atmosphere down to pressures of 5–7 bars (72–102 pound/square inch) at infrared wavelengths in the 2–5 μm interval using an imager and a spectrometer. The Jupiter's atmosphere and auroral regions are targeted for study. In particular it has been designed to study the dynamics and chemistry in the atmosphere, perhaps determining the how Jovian hot spots form. ions,

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, and

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can be mapped. The ion of Hydrogen is rare on Earth, but is one of the most common ions in the universe and known as

protonated molecular hydrogen The trihydrogen cation or protonated molecular hydrogen ( IUPAC name: hydrogen onium ion) is a cation (positive ion) with formula , consisting of three hydrogen nuclei (protons) sharing two electrons. The trihydrogen cation is one of the most a ...

or the trihydrogen cation. Despite the intense

magnetosphere of Jupiter The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the cavity created in the solar wind by Jupiter's magnetic field. Extending up to seven million kilometers in the Sun's direction and almost to the orbit of Saturn in the opposite direction, Jupiter's magnetospher ...

, the JIRAM is expected to be operational for at least the first eight orbits. Previously Jupiter was observed by an Infrared imaging spectrometer called NIMS (''Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer'') on the Galileo Jupiter orbiter. JIRAM was used to observe Earth during its flyby en route to Jupiter. These observations were used to help calibrate the instrument, and the lunar observations were actually a critical planned step in preparing the instrument for observations at Jupiter. The polar orbit of the ''Juno'' mission permits to get unprecedented observations of the planet. In particular, the polar regions, that where never observed before ''Juno'', can be observed with high spatial resolution. On August 27, 2016, JIRAM observed Jupiter at infrared wavelengths. The first science observation in space was conducted on Earth's

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

in October 2013. The JIRAM project was started by Professor

Angioletta Coradini Angioletta Coradini (1 July 1946 – 4 September 2011) was an Italian astrophysicist and planetary scientist. Biography In 1970 she completed a master's degree in physics at the University of Rome, the city where she would do her research ove ...

, however she died in 2011. The instrument was developed from Leonardo under the directions and supervision of the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetogy (IAPS) which is part of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and was funded by the Italian Space Agency. Dr. Alberto Adriani of IAPS is presently the responsible of the JIRAM project. In March 2018, results from JIRAM were released showing both the North and south poles have a central cyclone surrounded by addition cyclones. The north cycle was surrounded by 8 cyclones, while the southern cyclone was surrounded by five. By this time Juno had completed 10 close passes for science observations, since arriving in Jupiter's orbit on July 4, 2016. The first science pass occurred on August 28, 2016, and JIRAM was operated during that pass. Various results, including a 3-D movie a flyover of the north pole of Jupiter with JIRAM data were released at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in April 2018. JIRAM's spin-compensation mirror has been stuck since PJ44, but the instrument is operational.

Specifications

*Mass: 8 kg (17.6 pounds) *Max power use: 16.7

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s *Observation range: 2–5 micron wavelength light

Observations

References

External links

''Juno'' JIRAM websiteJovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper – Lunar and Planetary Institute

''Juno'' instruments
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JIRAM images at JPL

NASA Juno Findings – Jupiter’s Jet-Streams Are Unearthly March 7, 2018

NASA's Juno Mission Provides Infrared Tour of Jupiter's North Pole (April 11, 2018)
{{Satellite and spacecraft instruments Juno (spacecraft) Spacecraft instruments Italian Space Agency

Specifications

Observations

See also

References

External links