Jupiter News

October 7, 2023

Top Headlines

Mysterious Neptune Dark Spot Detected from Earth for the First Time

Aug. 24, 2023 — Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune's atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a dark spot on the planet has ever been observed with a ...

Hundred-Year Storms? That's How Long They Last on Saturn

Aug. 11, 2023 — Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in particular in the distribution of ammonia. Using ...

New Exoplanet Discovery Builds Better Understanding of Planet Formation

Aug. 3, 2023 — An international team of scientists have discovered an unusual Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a low-mass star called TOI-4860, located in the Corvus ...

James Webb Space Telescope Sees Jupiter Moons in a New Light

July 27, 2023 — Last year, JWST made spectral observations of Ganymede and infrared observations of Io. Absorption lines of hydrogen peroxide at Ganymede's poles indicate radiolysis of water ice by charged particles funneled by the moon's magnetic field. Io had two ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:04pm EDT

Does This Exoplanet Have a Sibling Sharing the Same Orbit?

July 19, 2023 — Astronomers have found the possible 'sibling' of a planet orbiting a distant star. The team has detected a cloud of debris that might be sharing this planet's orbit and which, they believe, could be ...

Giant Swirling Waves at Edge of Jupiter's Magnetosphere

July 17, 2023 — A team has found that NASA's Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter frequently encounters giant swirling waves at the boundary between the solar wind and Jupiter's magnetosphere. The waves are an important ...

Astronomers Identify the Coldest Star Yet That Emits Radio Waves

July 13, 2023 — Brown dwarf stars rarely emit radio waves. Here scientists have found the coldest star yet emitting at these long wave lengths. Understanding the science of 'ultracool brown dwarfs' will help deepen ...

New Radar Technique Lets Scientists Probe Invisible Ice Sheet Region on Earth and Icy Worlds

July 12, 2023 — A new radar technique developed by a graduate student allows imaging of the upper few feet of ice sheets on Earth and icy worlds. The technique uses ...

Life After Death: Astronomers Find a Planet That Shouldn't Exist

June 28, 2023 — The star would have inflated up to 1.5 times the planet's orbital distance -- engulfing the planet in the process -- before shrinking to its current size at only one-tenth of that ...

Jupiter's Moon Europa May Have Had a Slow Evolution

June 17, 2023 — Europa may have a metamorphic origin for the ocean. While some scientists speculated this, a research team shows that if Europa indeed formed from hydrated rocks (i.e., rocks have hydrogen and ...

'Hot Jupiters' May Not Be Orbiting Alone

June 8, 2023 — Astronomers challenge longstanding beliefs about the isolation of 'hot Jupiters' and proposes a new mechanism for understanding the exoplanets' ...

Astronomers Observe the First Radiation Belt Seen Outside of Our Solar System

May 15, 2023 — Astronomers have described the first radiation belt observed outside our solar system, using a coordinated array of 39 radio dishes from Hawaii to ...

Playing Hide and Seek With Planets

Apr. 14, 2023 — An international team of astronomers announced the first exoplanet discovered through a combined approach of direct imaging and precision measurements of a star's motion on the sky. This new method ...

The Planet That Could End Life on Earth

Mar. 7, 2023 — A terrestrial planet hovering between Mars and Jupiter would be able to push Earth out of the solar system and wipe out life on this planet, according to a recent ...

Earlier Headlines

Summaries
Headlines

'Forbidden' Planet Orbiting Small Star Challenges Gas Giant Formation Theories

Feb. 22, 2023 — Astronomers have discovered an unusual planetary system in which a large gas giant planet orbits a small red dwarf star called TOI-5205. Their findings challenge long-held ideas about planet ...

Newly Discovered Form of Salty Ice Could Exist on Surface of Extraterrestrial Moons

Feb. 20, 2023 — An international team has found two new crystal structures for salty ice, or solid hydrate made from water and sodium chloride. The newly discovered material's properties match those of the ...

New Webb Image Reveals Dusty Disk Like Never Seen Before

Jan. 11, 2023 — NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the inner workings of a dusty disk surrounding a nearby red dwarf star. These observations represent the first time the previously known disk has ...

Scientists Find Evidence for Magnetic Reconnection Between Ganymede and Jupiter

Jan. 10, 2023 — In June 2021, NASA's Juno spacecraft flew close to Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, observing evidence of magnetic reconnection. A team has used Juno data to examine the electron and ion ...

Alien Planet Found Spiraling to Its Doom Around an Aging Star

Dec. 19, 2022 — The condemned planet could help answer questions about the fate of other worlds as their solar systems ...

VLA and ALMA Study Jupiter and Io

Dec. 13, 2022 — VLA teams up with Juno spacecraft to study Jupiter's atmosphere, and ALMA reveals new details about Io's ...

New Abiotic Pathway for the Formation of Oxygen

Oct. 12, 2022 — Researchers have now found evidence that double ionised sulphur dioxide contribute to the formation of oxygen molecules. This could, in particular, explain the presence of oxygen in sulphur ...

Exploring Jupiter's Moon, Europa, Possible With Silicon-Germanium Transistor Technology

Sep. 30, 2022 — Europa is more than just one of Jupiter's many moons -- it's also one of most promising places in the solar system to look for extraterrestrial life. Under 10 kilometers of ice is a liquid ...

New Webb Image Captures Clearest View of Neptune's Rings in Decades

Sep. 21, 2022 — NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows off its capabilities closer to home with its first image of Neptune. Not only has Webb captured the clearest view of this distant planet's rings in ...

Could More of Earth's Surface Host Life?

Sep. 9, 2022 — Of all known planets, Earth is as friendly to life as any planet could possibly be -- or is it? If Jupiter's orbit changes, a new study shows Earth could be more hospitable than it is ...

Surprise Finding Suggests 'Water Worlds' Are More Common Than We Thought

Sep. 8, 2022 — A new study suggests that many more planets may have large amounts of water than previously thought--as much as half water and half rock. The catch? All that water is probably embedded in the rock, ...

Planetary Heist: Astronomers Show Massive Stars Can Steal Jupiter-Sized Planets

Sep. 6, 2022 — Jupiter-sized planets can be stolen or captured by massive stars in the densely populated stellar nurseries where most stars are born, a new study has ...

Planet Formation: ALMA Detects Gas in a Circumplanetary Disk

Aug. 9, 2022 — Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study planet formation have made the first-ever detection of gas in a circumplanetary disk. What's more, the detection ...

Why Jupiter Doesn't Have Rings Like Saturn

July 21, 2022 — Because it's bigger, Jupiter ought to have larger, more spectacular rings than Saturn has. But new research shows Jupiter's massive moons prevent that vision from lighting up the night ...

Scientists Map Sulfur Residue on Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa

June 22, 2022 — A team has used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe Jupiter's moon, Europa, at ultraviolet wavelengths, filling in a 'gap' in the various wavelengths used to observe this icy water ...

Simulations Reveal Hydrodynamics of Planetary Engulfment by Expanding Star

June 13, 2022 — A new study using hydrodynamical simulations reveals the forces acting on a planet when it is swallowed by an expanding star. The results show that the interactions of a substellar body (a planet or ...

Experiments Measure Freezing Point of Extraterrestrial Oceans to Aid Search for Life

May 3, 2022 — A planetary scientist worked with engineers to measure the physical limits for a liquid when salty water is at very high pressure. The results suggest where to look for extraterrestrial life in the ...

Jupiter's Moon Has Splendid Dunes

Apr. 19, 2022 — Scientists have long wondered how Jupiter's innermost moon, Io, has meandering ridges as grand as any that can be seen in movies like 'Dune.' Now, a research study has provided a new ...

Scientists Connect the Dots Between Galilean Moon, Auroral Emissions on Jupiter

Apr. 5, 2022 — On November 8, 2020, NASA's Juno spacecraft flew through an intense beam of electrons traveling from Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, to its auroral footprint on the gas giant. Scientists ...

On Jupiter's Moon Europa, 'Chaos Terrains' Could Be Shuttling Oxygen to Ocean

Mar. 24, 2022 — Researchers have built the world's first physics-based computer simulation of oxygen transport on Europa, finding that it's possible for oxygen to drain through the moon's icy shell ...

Wednesday, February 22, 2023