UNITED STATES: NASA consistently releases new images of stunning, mind-blowing views of distant space. However, the most recent pictures aren’t from the James Webb Space Telescope, which has recently been providing us with stunning pictures.
These stunning images, which were taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, are the first to be taken of Jupiter’s moon Europa in many years.
The NASA New Frontiers Program’s Juno probe was launched into space in 2011 to get near Jupiter and learn more about the far-off planet.
The new images were captured when the probe made its closest pass in 22 years near the frozen moon known as Europa, which was when the probe, according to NASA, arrived at its destination in 2016.
“The surface is twisted by brilliant and dark ridges and troughs, and tall shadow-casting blocks and other characteristics of hard terrain are visible. The oblong crater next to the terminator may be an old impact crater,” on September 29, JPL officials posted about the flyby images from Juno.
The moon that is close to Jupiter is about the same size as our moon. According to NASA, it has a very different origin and history.
Researchers have long hypothesised that the ocean beneath the frozen crust of Europa would be able to sustain life comparable to that found on Earth.
According to Candy Hansen, a co-investigator on the Juno mission and head of camera planning at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, “The scientists team will examine whether Europa’s surface features have altered over the last 20 years by comparing the full collection of photographs taken by Juno with images from earlier missions. JunoCam images, which will replace the area’s present low-resolution coverage, will complete the geologic map now in place”.
The Juno probe’s trajectory was slightly altered during the flyby to assist shorten the time it needs to orbit Jupiter. It will orbit in 38 days as opposed to 43, which should enable scientists to continue collecting data on the sixth largest Moon in our solar system.
Also Read: NASA: Juno Will Get Close to Europa, and the Observations Will Aid Future Missions
