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 has just now passed Superior Conjunction. These images blow me away they are so incredibly beautiful. Here's the current SOHO image showing the steady progress of Jupiter across its field of view:
The graph below shows the positions of the four Galilean moons over the next 24 hours 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 in quad 4 moving east. Europa starts the day in quad 4 also moving east. Ganymede begins the day in quad 1 heading east. Callisto will be in quad 2 moving west all day.
By 6h UTC, Io and Europa are about to move behind Jupiter.
At 12h UTC, Io and Europa are now both in quad 1 heading east. Ganymede is at its eastern elongation and is now moving into quad 2 headed west.
At 18h UTC, Io and Europa are now firmly in quad 1 moving east. Ganymede is now firmly in quad 2 moving west.
By 0h UTC tomorrow, all four moons are east of Jupiter as seen from Earth.
The position of Jupiter on Earth's celestial sphere at 0h UTC is RA 10h 21m 39.1s, DEC +11d 09m 41.4s. The phase angle is 0.164 degrees, which is 0.044 degrees less than yesterday. The angular separation between Jupiter and the Sun is 0.875 degrees, which is 0.234 degrees less than yesterday. The distance between Jupiter and the Sun is 806,055,720 km, which is 36,444 km greater than yesterday. Jupiter is moving away from the Sun at a velocity of 1,518.5 km/h, which is 1.667 km/h slower than yesterday. The distance between Jupiter and Earth is 957,201,820 km, which is 15663 km greater than yesterday. Jupiter and Earth are hardly moving at all relative to one another radially with a velocity of 652.625 km/h, which is 1,286.875 km/h slower than yesterday.
At 05:19 UTC, Io goes through a perijove at a distance of 420,044.7km. At 05:31 UTC, Europa goes through an apojove at a distance of 677,653.5 km.
At 05:40, Io moves into Jupiter's shadow. At 07:00 UTC, Europa moves into Jupiter's shadow. At 07:58 UTC, Io reappears from behind Jupiter. At 09:56, Europa reappears from behind Jupiter.
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.
Spread the word about this daily blog! This blog is subject to evolution. What can I do to make this blog more interesting and more informative?
Subscribe at the right column of this blog and get these posts sent to you automatically!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment