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.
Jupiter continues to move towards Superior Conjunction on 26 August. These images blow me away they are so incredibly beautiful. Here's the current SOHO image showing the steady progress:
I'm going to show you a different graphic for the moon location as a function of time, which is produced by the same site that produces the images. I am so grateful for that site! The graphic shows the motion of the four Galilean moons as seen from Earth. The curved lines show the path of each moon through time. The dark band in the center is Jupiter. The x-axis is the distance, in arc seconds, from the center of Jupiter.
At 0h UTC, Io begins the day firmly in quad 3 moving west. Europa has just passed its western elongation and is in quad 4 moving east most of the day. Ganymede spends most of the day heading west in quad 3. Callisto spends yet another day in quad 1 moving east.
By 6h UTC, Io is very near western elongation and will be moving into quad 4 heading east.
At 12h UTC, Io is firmly in quad 4 moving east.
At 18h UTC, Io and Europa are moving behind Jupiter. Ganymede is near western elongation and will be moving into quad 4 heading west.
By 0h UTC tomorrow, Io and Europa are both in quad 1 heading east. Ganymede is now past western elongation and is in quad 4 heading east. Callisto continues in quad 1 moving east.
At 00:29 UTC, Callisto goes through its apojove at a distance of 1,896,276.0 km. At 16:36 UTC, Europa goes through its apojove at a distance of 677,661.4 km. At 16:45, Io goes through its perijove at a distance of 420,044.7 km.
At 0h UTC, the position of Jupiter is RA 10h 18m 20.2s, DEC +11d 28m 18.6s. The phase angle is 0.573 degrees, which is 0.135 degrees less than yesterday. The angle between Jupiter and the Sun as seen from Earth is 3.051 degrees, which is 0.721 degrees less than yesterday. The distance between Jupiter and the Sun is 805,909,783 km, which is 36,629 km greater than yesterday. Jupiter is moving away from the sun at a velocity of 1,526.083 km/h, which is 2.917 km/h slower than yesterday. Jupiter is 956,953,833 km from Earth, which is 139,371 km further away than yesterday. The two planets appear to be moving away from each other at a speed of 5,807.125 km/h, which is 1,291,083 km/h slower than yesterday. Their relative velocity will be at a minimum at the moment of Superior Conjunction.
At 16:40 UTC, Io moves behind Jupiter. At 17:36, Europa moves behind Jupiter. Io reappears from behind Jupiter at 19:00 UTC, followed by Europa at 20:37 UTC.
No satellite mutual events to report.
And now, the Glorious and Beautiful Orbital Ribbons:
And just for fun and because it's so incredibly beautiful, here's a pretty one that marks the relative orbits of the Uranian moons Miranda and Ariel:
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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