Explanation: On October 29, the Juno spacecraft once again dove near the turbulent Jovian cloud tops. Its 16th orbital closest approach or perijove passage, brought Juno within 3,500 kilometers of the Solar System's largest planetary atmosphere. These frames, recorded by JunoCam while the spacecraft cruised 20 - 50 thousand kilometers above the planet's middle southern latitudes, seem to follow a swirling cloud shaped remarkably like a dolphin. Swimming along Jupiter's darker South South Temperate Belt, this dolphin is itself planet-sized though, some thousands of kilometers across. Juno's next perijove passage will be December 21.
I'm quite sure I have commented on that dolphin on Jupiter before, although I remember that I called it a whale.
Could I have seen the picture in the Recent Submissions forum in a picture posted by bystander?
Ann
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:38 am
by Miguel Vale
And what about the little dot that apears in the low left of the first two images! Doesn't seem a moon, and looks like one of our sattelites! Can anyone onform on this matter! Thanks. Merry Christmas to all
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:18 pm
by Case
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:57 pm
by heehaw
Are these true colors on Jupiter?
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:38 pm
by HellCat
Perhaps it's a promotion for the latest blockbuster movie....
heehaw wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:57 pm
Are these true colors on Jupiter?
I don't know what "true colors" means, exactly, but this isn't quite what Jupiter looks like through a telescope, so if you mean does this look like what we'd see if we were riding on Juno, I'd say no. Too much blue, and a little too much contrast.
I might speculate that the camera's near-IR channel data is incorporated into this image along with the visible light layers.
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 4:15 pm
by De58te
By Jove! I have a sinking feeling that that photograph was taken on porpoise.
Hitchhiker's Guide was right! The dolphins really did leave the Earth before it was demolished by the Vogons!
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:37 am
by Tszabeau
It appears they are doing the sidestroke.
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:29 am
by neufer
A POD of dolphins Swimming on Jupiter?
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:36 am
by alter-ego
Miguel Vale wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:38 am
And what about the little dot that apears in the low left of the first two images! Doesn't seem a moon, and looks like one of our sattelites! Can anyone onform on this matter! Thanks. Merry Christmas to all
Well one of our satellites it is not. JPL HORIZONS reveals the two most likely Jovian moon candidates that emerge from Jupiter's limb during the 20-minute photo-shoot: Calisto (JIV) at mv ≈-3 and Amalthea (JV) at mv ≈-4. JVII and JVIII also emerge but their visual magnitudes are 8-plus. If any of the outer moons were visible, I'd expect to see a few stars as well.
Thanks, and have a great holiday season yourself.
Re: APOD: Swimming on Jupiter (2018 Dec 14)
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:51 am
by Camelot
Ok, where's the obvious key to manually page through the images. Getting quite seasick trying to see small details on a flickering picture.
Miguel Vale wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:38 am
And what about the little dot that apears in the low left of the first two images! Doesn't seem a moon, and looks like one of our sattelites! Can anyone onform on this matter! Thanks. Merry Christmas to all
Well one of our satellites it is not. JPL HORIZONS reveals the two most likely Jovian moon candidates that emerge from Jupiter's limb during the 20-minute photo-shoot: Calisto (JIV) at mv ≈-3 and Amalthea (JV) at mv ≈-4. JVII and JVIII also emerge but their visual magnitudes are 8-plus. If any of the outer moons were visible, I'd expect to see a few stars as well.
Thanks, and have a great holiday season yourself.
Callisto was behind Juno(; i.e., towards the Sun).
My guess is the dimmer/unresolved but still quite bright Amalthea.
I realized there was something up when I saw your link claiming Io as the moon rising. Sure enough I found I misinterpreted a HORIZONS parameter I used to find the Jovian moon candidates. Using the right parameter (angular separation / visibility) it's clear the link is right. Io is the moon. Io just cleared the limb at about 21:24:30 UT on 10/29/18. The predicted separation from the limb at 21:26 UT = 3.3°, when Jupiter's apparent limb-to-limb diameter = 108°.
Considering the 10 brightest moons (J1→JX), it turns out there were two other moons that rose for Juno, but because of image timing, other field of views during the sequence, and/or too faint magnitudes, the moons weren't captured:
Ganymede rose around 21:37:30 UT
Himalia (JVI) rose around 21:30 UT
I'm glad you found that link. I didn't look hard at all as I was more interested in calculating the moon. I had high expectations for HORIZONS, and it came through in grand style.