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.
Orbital Motion
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 starts the day in quad 1 near eastern elongation. Europa begins the day in quad 3 moving west. Ganymede begins the day moving behind Jupiter and is moving into quad 1 headed east the rest of the day. Callisto spends all day, once again, in quad 1 moving east.
By 6h UTC, Io is firmly in quad 2 moving west. Ganymede is now firmly in quad 1 moving east.
At 12h UTC, Io is about to begin its transit of Jupiter. Europa is near its western elongation and will be moving into quad 4 headed east.
At 18h UTC, Io is firmly in quad 3 moving west. Europa is past western elongation and is now in quad 4 moving east.
By 0h UTC tomorow, Io is at western elongation. Europa continues moving east in quad 4. Ganymede and Callisto are both east of Jupiter in quad 1.
Apojoves and Perijoves
At 10:32 UTC, Io goes through a apojove at a distance of 423,490.9 km.
Relative Positions and Motions
At 0h UTC, the position of Jupiter is RA 10h 32m 21.6s, DEC +10d 08m 38.9s. The phase angle is 1.834 degrees, which is 0.138 degrees greater than yesterday. The angle between Jupiter and the Sun as seen from Earth is 9.861 degrees, which is 0.751 degrees greater than yesterday. The distance between Jupiter and the Sun is 806,523,812.9 km, which is 35,643.2 km greater than yesterday. Jupiter is moving away from the Sun at a velocity of 1,485.13 km/h, which is 2.78 km/h slower than yesterday. Jupiter is 954,592,504.8km from Earth, which is 386,909.4 km closer than yesterday. Jupiter and Earth are moving toward one another at a velocity of 16,121.23 km/h, which is 1.297.65 km/h faster than yesterday. Whoosh!
Jupiter-Satellite Events
From 12:16 to 14:33 UTC, the shadow of Io transits Jupiter. From 12:29 to 14:47 UTC, Io itself transits Jupiter.
Glorious Orbital Ribbons
These are the spacial and temporal connections between the four Galilean moons. This is, once again, looking down upon the Jupiter system.
When is the first image of Jupiter after Superior Conjunction going to be taken? If you have one, send it to me!
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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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