NASA’s spinning spacecraft studying the satellites of the solar system’s largest celestial body (aside from the sun), may already be switched off, but the space agency won’t say. The Juno probe launched in 2011 and entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, beginning what was originally planned as a 20-month mission. Nearly a decade later, the spacecraft has delivered unprecedented research …
Read More »Tag Archives: Jupiter
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will be eyed by Mars and Jupiter probes as it zooms past the sun this month
The European Space Agency is making use of spacecraft designed for Mars and Jupiter missions to track interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it continues its journey through our solar system. First spotted in July 2025 by an ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope in Chile, 3I/ATLAS became the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. Astronomers identified …
Read More »How Old Is Jupiter? Scientists Have A New Theory
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system (so large, in fact, that some scientists think it might have even consumed other worlds), a gas giant so massive that it shaped the orbits and evolution of the neighboring planets. For decades, scientists thought Jupiter was roughly 4.5 billion years old, forming soon after the birth of our sun. And a …
Read More »NASA Study: Celestial ‘Accident’ Sheds Light on Jupiter, Saturn Riddle
An unusual cosmic object is helping scientists better understand the chemistry hidden deep in Jupiter and Saturn’s atmospheres — and potentially those of exoplanets. Why has silicon, one of the most common elements in the universe, gone largely undetected in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, and gas planets like them orbiting other stars? A new study using observations from NASA’s …
Read More »Don’t miss Venus line up with Jupiter and Mercury before sunrise on Sept. 1
Jupiter, Venus and Mercury will appear together in the predawn sky on Sept. 1. (Image credit: Created by Anthony Wood in Canva.) Early risers are in for a spectacular show next week, when Jupiter, Venus and Mercury form a planetary lineup in the predawn sky on Sept. 1. Look above the eastern horizon in the hours preceding dawn on Sept. …
Read More »Scientists Have Uncovered When Jupiter Was Born, Solving a Longstanding Mystery
New research reveals that Jupiter’s birth triggered high-speed collisions that created molten droplets preserved in meteorites, tiny time capsules from the solar system’s earliest days.Credit: Shutterstock Ancient droplets found in meteorites reveal the history of planet formation. About 4.5 billion years ago, Jupiter expanded quickly into the giant planet we see today. Its immense gravity disturbed the paths of countless …
Read More »How old is Jupiter: Meteorite ‘raindrops’ help scientists pin down gas giant’s age
In some cases, to learn more about our solar system, all we have to do is look at evidence found on Earth. Researchers from Japan’s Nagoya University and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have determined how mysterious molten “raindrops” in meteorites formed — and used that information to date Jupiter’s formation. The raindrops are called chondrules. They’re strange …
Read More »Europe regains contact with JUICE Jupiter probe ahead of crucial Aug. 31 Venus flyby
Europe’s most advanced interplanetary space probe lost contact with Earth for nearly a full day leading up to a crucial flyby of Venus that will occur on Sunday (Aug. 31). The European Space Agency’s (ESA) JUICE spacecraft launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in April 2023. The probe is bound for the Jupiter system, where it will …
Read More »‘Alien auroras’ on Jupiter reveal a new kind of plasma wave, scientists say
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft revealed faint aurora features likely triggered by charged particles coming from the edge of Jupiter’s massive magnetosphere. . | Credit: NASA/SWRI/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/V. Hue/G. R. Gladstone/B. Bonfond The shimmering northern lights that streak across Alaska’s skies have wilder cousins on …
Read More »The Object at the Center of Jupiter Is So Strange That It Defies Comprehension
The core of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has long been a source of mystery for astronomers: an object so unfathomably dense and hot that it defies comprehension. Conventional theories have suggested for years that the gas giant’s behemoth interior was formed following an enormous collision with an early planet. The “giant impact” theory suggests that roughly half …
Read More »