NASA's Juno mission leaves legacy of science at Jupiter

[roughly]

This is a fantastic recap of everything Juno discovered and the value of this kind of mission - there’s multiple discoveries in here that are at odds with our theoretical understanding of planetary formation, physics, and chemistry that can inform new science moving forward. One that stuck out to me in particular was that Jupiter’s massive magnetic field isn’t generated by a metallic core like we expected, but rather Hydrogen under pressures sufficient to tear free electrons.

Combine that with the fact that the Juno probe has now more than doubled its expected life, and this whole mission serves as as good of an argument for continuing to fund NASA as you’re going to see.

[lentil_soup]

These are the pictures from the camera, incredibly beautiful stuff

https://science.nasa.gov/gallery/junocam-images/

[t1E9mE7JTRjf]

Wow, they're indeed incredible. What sights. Thanks for sharing that follow up.

[efitz]

https://archive.ph/pwVDL

[unkeen]

> the solar system’s undisputed heavyweight

Now I feel the urge to dispute this!

[mritterhoff]

It's an odd choice of words since 1. Most people know it's the largest and heaviest planet 2. They didn't specify planet but are still ignoring the sun, which is 1000x Jupiter's mass.

[867-5309]

don't be so hard on yourself, there are plenty of low-calorie alternatives nowadays

[ygritte]

I do hope that Juno gets another extension. It's obviously worth it. Its mission is an impressive demonstration that no sooner do we take a closer look at something than we realize we knew nothing and don't understand what we find.

[euroderf]

OT: So if Jupiter is something of a "failed star", how much bigger would it have to be to be a successful star, and what would be the effect (if any) on other planets' orbits, and would it boil away a lot of Saturn ?

[mritterhoff]

Wikipedia says it would need to be 75x more massive in order to start fusing hydrogen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#Size_and_mass

[huijzer]

Ever since I've seen the Apollo 11 press conference, I don't know what to think: https://youtu.be/BI_ZehPOMwI

[hhh]

why? it’s a press conference of the people with the most eyes on them in the world, not a celebration

[aruggirello]

Aren't NASA considering the proposal to rendez-vous with 3I/ATLAS (aka C/2025 N1 ATLAS)??? [1]

1: https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-probe-could-intercept-inte...

[Tuna-Fish]

No, they are not, because the probe doesn't have anywhere near enough fuel to do this. I suggest stopping use of any news source you have that would print this crap.

[jfengel]

Nobody at NASA takes anything Avi Loeb says seriously.

It also happens that NASA is too busy doing damage control to consider anything new. But even if they were, it won't be because Loeb suggested it.