NASAJuno | Juno Jupiter orbit animation @NASAJuno | Uploaded 13 years ago | Updated 3 hours ago
Find out more at http://missionjuno.swri.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/juno.
This animation depicts the orbit of NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter in 2016 and 2017. Over about 15 months, Juno makes 33 orbits around the giant planet's poles, coming to within 3100 miles (5000 kilometers) of Jupiter's cloud tops every 11 days.
The view in this sequence shows Juno's successive passes around Jupiter without regard for the planet's rotation. In reality, Jupiter rotates every 10 hours, and Juno's orbit is timed so that during each close approach, the spacecraft flies over a different swath of the planet.
The view here is toward Jupiter, as seen from Earth over the course of the science mission. Jupiter's north pole is up.
The movie also illustrates how Juno's orbit tilts increasingly southward over time. This is because Jupiter is not a perfect sphere -- additional mass around its middle alters Juno's orbit during each successive pass.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Find out more at http://missionjuno.swri.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/juno.
This animation depicts the orbit of NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter in 2016 and 2017. Over about 15 months, Juno makes 33 orbits around the giant planet's poles, coming to within 3100 miles (5000 kilometers) of Jupiter's cloud tops every 11 days.
The view in this sequence shows Juno's successive passes around Jupiter without regard for the planet's rotation. In reality, Jupiter rotates every 10 hours, and Juno's orbit is timed so that during each close approach, the spacecraft flies over a different swath of the planet.
The view here is toward Jupiter, as seen from Earth over the course of the science mission. Jupiter's north pole is up.
The movie also illustrates how Juno's orbit tilts increasingly southward over time. This is because Jupiter is not a perfect sphere -- additional mass around its middle alters Juno's orbit during each successive pass.
Credit: NASA/JPL
