JUPITER TODAY is a daily blog about the dynamic Jupiter system for the purpose of monitoring activity.
We start with the overall view of activity with the Jupiter system, showing the orbits of the four Galilean moons:
This is a view of the Jupiter system looking down on it. Following the blue line to the left is the line of sight to Earth, while following the gray line to the left is the line of sight to the Sun. The orbits of the four Galilean moons are shown. The large dots indicate the position of each moon at 0h, 6h, 12h, 18h, and 24h (0h the next day) UTC for this date. From this point of view, the moons revolve around Jupiter in a counter-clockwise motion. For more information about this graphic, see the post from 30 July 2015.
At 0h UTC, Io begins the day in quad 1 moving east. Europa has just transited Jupiter and is now in quad 3 moving west. Ganymede also just transited Jupiter and is also in quad 3 and will spend the entire day there. Callisto is in quad 3 moving west all day.
At 6h UTC, Io is nearing its eastern elongation and will be moving into quad 2 heading west.
By 12h UTC, Io is firmly in quad 2, and Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are all in quad 3.
At 18h UTC, Io is transiting Jupiter and moving into quad 3 heading west. Europa is very near western elongation and will be moving into quad 4 heading east.
By 0h UTC tomorrow, Io is firmly in quad 3 moving west. Europa is past its eastern elongation and is now in quad 4 moving east. Ganymede and Callisto continue in quad 3 moving west.
Io is at apojove at 18:14 UTC, at a distance of 423,495.8 km.
At 0h UTC, the position of Jupiter on Earth's celestial sphere is 10h 11m 42.2s, DEC +12d 05m 08.0s. The phase angle is 1.673 degrees, which is 0.138 degrees less than yesterday. The angular separation between Jupiter and the Sun as seen from Earth is 8.928 degrees, which is 0.741 degrees less than yesterday. The distance between Jupiter and the Sun is 805,615,435 km, which is 37,053 km further away than yesterday. This means that Jupiter is moving radially away from the sun at a speed of 1,543.875 km/h, which is 7.667 km/h slower than yesterday. The distance between Jupiter and Earth is 954,972,424 km, which is 386,614 km further away than yesterday. Earth and Jupiter continue to move away from one another at a radial velocity of 16,108.917 km/h, which is 1,284.291 km/h slower than yesterday. The deceleration continues to increase every day until we get to Superior Conjunction on the 26th of August.
From 17:24 to 19:42 UTC, Io transits Jupiter. From 17:35 to 19:53 UTC, the shadow of Io transits Jupiter.
From 15:48 to 16:10, Ganymede occults Europa. This 21.9 minute event has an impact parameter of 0.406 arc seconds. Not so good of an occultation. From 16:49 to 16:56, Ganymede eclipses Europa. This 7.4 minute event has an impact parameter of 0.957 arc seconds. Just a glancing blow.
Now the Orbital Ribbons:
Jupiter is so near Superior Conjunction (taking place at 22:00 UTC on 26 August 2015) that photography and other data collection isn't practical. We'll have to wait about a months after SC to start viewing the Jupiter system again.
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Please send me your feedback, comments, and questions to jupitertoday AT gmail DOT com or the comments section of this blog.
With my gratitude, the data used to create the orbit plots and ribbons was supplied by the JPL Horizons website. The graphics showing the location of the four moons as seen from Earth are via 'Jupiter Viewer 2.8'. Jupiter-Satellite and Satellite mutual events data is supplied from IMCEE.
Until tomorrow, I bid you Peace.
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