The two most powerful space telescopes ever built, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Hubble Space Telescope, are about to gather data about the most volcanically body in the entire solar system, Jupiter's first Galilean moon, Io.
This data will be used in combination with upcoming flybys of Io by NASA's Juno spacecraft, which is currently surveying the Jupiter system and is slated to conduct these flybys later this year and early 2024. The purpose of examining this small, volcanic moon with these two powerful telescopes and one orbiting spacecraft is for scientists to gain a better understanding of how Io's escaping atmosphere interacts with Jupiter's surrounding magnetic and plasma environment.
Requesting observing time on Hubble is done through NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Observing Program and is allocated based on the number of orbits that Hubble will be asked to complete around the Earth for a science campaign to complete its research, with each orbit taking approximately 90 minutes. Typically, large observing projects request 75 or more orbits.
Jupiter's massive magnetic field is comprised of a giant bubble of charged particles that encircles and swirls around the largest planet in the solar system, of which is comprised primarily of Io's escaping atmosphere. What has remained a mystery to scientists is the interaction between Io's atmosphere, surface volatiles,, Io's extended neutral clouds, Jupiter's ionosphere, and the Io Plasma Torus , and specifically how to measure and gain greater insights into it.
After arriving at Jupiter in July 2016, Juno spent its primary science mission studying Jupiter, including its interior, aurorae, and massive magnetosphere. Juno's extended mission began in August 2021, which is slated to last until September 2025 and has been used to conduct flybys of Jupiter's Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
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