Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

Rare Opportunity to Gather Data From Cassini Space

Mission and Hubble Space Telescope This Week


Uncovering the Mysteries of Jupiter's Aurora

 
ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 2000--

Researchers at the University of Michigan Seize

Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Gather Data From Cassini Space

Mission and Hubble Space Telescope This Week

After years of waiting, a team of researchers at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering will receive an early Christmas present this week - an up-close look at the mysterious aurora surrounding Jupiter and a chance to gather valuable data about how the aurora behaves.

As Cassini reaches its closest point to Jupiter - approximately 10 million kilometers, compared with a distance of 600 million kilometers from Earth - researchers have a rare opportunity to simultaneously gather data and images about the aurora from Cassini and the Hubble Space Telescope.

For researchers at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to conduct a real-time experiment from 600 million miles away. The test will involve using instruments aboard Cassini to take direct measurements of the solar wind and determine the amount of pressure those winds exert on Jupiter. Since the solar wind changes as it flows away from the Sun, this must be done close to Jupiter, and the Cassini trajectory provides a unique opportunity to do this.

Meanwhile, the Hubble Space Telescope will capture detailed images of the brilliant bands of colored light that are generated by the aurora. (Images are available online at www.sprl.umich.edu/CassiniHSTJupiterflyby)

The goal: to analyze the relationship between the solar wind measurements and the images to determine how solar winds influence the aurora around Jupiter. That information, in turn, may help researchers understand some of the differences between Jupiter and Earth.

"The aurora around Jupiter is vastly different than what we experience on Earth. It's almost 1000 times more energetic and appears to be much more complex. We know that the solar wind controls the Earth's aurora, but we're not sure how it influences Jupiter," said John T. Clarke, research scientist at the College of Engineering's Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences department and a principal investigator for observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. "This project will double the amount of existing high resolution data that Hubble has collected on Jupiter's aurora."

The two spacecraft will collect data over a two-week period beginning December 14. Researchers at the University of Michigan will then begin closely examining the images along with a host of statistics about the solar wind, including velocity, temperature, pressure, density and magnetic field direction.

A second campaign in January 2001 will consist of Hubble images of the day-side aurora with Cassini images of Jupiter's night-side aurora, obtained just after Cassini has flown past Jupiter. The team will develop computer models that predict how the aurora operates and present its findings in early 2001.

In addition to the job at hand, this experiment also serves as an important "test run" for the Cassini spacecraft, launched by space organizations in the United States, Europe and Italy in 1997. It will be the first significant opportunity to exercise the spacecraft's operational abilities as it travels to Saturn (arrival date: 2004).

Expert Resources Available

At the University of Michigan College of Engineering

Jupiter may be 600 million miles away, but the epicenter of planetary research will be located in a single hallway in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the next two weeks. That's where three researchers from the University of Michigan College of Engineering will be working to analyze the data gathered by Cassini and the Hubble Space Telescope.