Jupiter’s interior has been revealed in unprecedented detail in observations by Nasa’s Juno spacecraft that show it to be as strange and turbulent as the planet’s surface. Despite extensive studies of Jupiter’s surface, including its distinctive dark and light bands and “great red spot”, little had previously been known about what lies at the interior of the solar system’s largest planet. The findings are published in four separate papers in the journal Nature, describing the planet’s gravitational field (surprisingly asymmetrical), atmospheric flows, interior composition and polar cyclones. The Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter in 2016 after a journey of five years and nearly 1.8 billion miles. Nasa is currently deciding whether to extend the mission beyond its original planned ending in July, when controllers are due to send the craft into a destructive dive into Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Source: The Guardian March 07, 2018 18:56 UTC