{"id":12104,"date":"2024-10-01T12:02:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T16:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-instruments-capture-sharpest-image-of-earths-radiation-belt\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:02:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T16:02:21","slug":"nasas-instruments-capture-sharpest-image-of-earths-radiation-belt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-instruments-capture-sharpest-image-of-earths-radiation-belt\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Instruments Capture Sharpest Image of Earth\u2019s Radiation Belt"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Instruments Capture Sharpest Image of Earth\u2019s Radiation Belt<\/h2>\n

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4 min read<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Instruments Capture Sharpest Image of Earth\u2019s Radiation Belt<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

From Aug. 19-20, ESA\u2019s (European Space Agency\u2019s) Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission made history with a daring lunar-Earth flyby and double gravity assist maneuver, a spaceflight first. As the spacecraft zipped past our Moon and home planet, Juice\u2019s instruments came online for a dry run of what they\u2019ll do when they reach Jupiter. During that time, two of NASA\u2019s onboard instruments added another first to the list: capturing the sharpest-ever image of Earth\u2019s radiation belts \u2013 swaths of charged particles trapped in Earth\u2019s magnetic shield, or magnetosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jovian Energetic Neutrals and Ions (JENI) instrument, built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, on behalf of NASA, took the image as Juice soared away from Earth. What it captured is invisible to the human eye. Unlike traditional cameras that rely on light, JENI uses special sensors to capture energetic neutral atoms emitted by charged particles interacting with the extended atmospheric hydrogen gas surrounding Earth. The JENI instrument is the newest generation of this type of camera, building on the success of a similar instrument on NASA\u2019s Cassini mission that revealed the magnetospheres of Saturn and Jupiter.<\/p>\n

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An illustration showing the trajectory of ESA\u2019s Juice spacecraft during its lunar-Earth gravity assist, featuring a high-resolution ENA image of the million-degree hot plasma halo encircling Earth captured by NASA\u2019s JENI instrument. The white rings denote equatorial distance of 4 and 6 Earth radii. The inset showcases measurements taken by the NASA\u2019s JENI and JoEE instruments during their passage through the radiation belts, revealing a highly structured energetic ion and electron environment. <\/div>\n
Credit: ESA\/NASA\/Johns Hopkins APL\/Josh Diaz<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cAs soon as we saw the crisp, new images, high fives went around the room,\u201d said Matina Gkioulidou, deputy lead of JENI at APL. \u201cIt was clear we had captured the vast ring of hot plasma encircling Earth in unprecedented detail, an achievement that has sparked excitement for what is to come at Jupiter.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Aug. 19, JENI and its companion particle instrument Jovian Energetic Electrons (JoEE) made the most of their brief 30-minute encounter with the Moon. As Juice zoomed just 465 miles (750 kilometers) above the lunar surface, the instruments gathered data on the space environment\u2019s interaction with our nearest celestial companion. It\u2019s an interaction scientists expect to see magnified at Jupiter\u2019s moons, as the gas giant\u2019s radiation-rich magnetosphere barrels over them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Aug. 20, Juice hurled into Earth\u2019s magnetosphere, passing some 37,000 miles (60,000 km) above the Pacific Ocean, where the instruments got their first taste of the harsh environment that awaits at Jupiter. Racing through the magnetotail, JoEE and JENI encountered the dense, lower-energy plasma characteristic of this region before plunging into the heart of the radiation belts. There, the instruments measured the million-degree plasma encircling Earth to investigate the secrets of plasma heating that are known to fuel dramatic phenomena in planetary magnetospheres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t have hoped for a better flyby,\u201d said Pontus Brandt, principal investigator of JoEE and JENI at APL. \u201cThe richness of the data from our deep-dive through the magnetosphere is astounding. JENI\u2019s image of the entire system we just flew through was the cherry on top. It\u2019s a powerful combination we will exploit in the Jovian system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now after using the Moon\u2019s and Earth\u2019s gravity, Juice\u2019s trajectory has been successfully adjusted for a future encounter with Venus in August 2025. That Venus flyby will serve as a gravitational slingshot, propelling Juice back toward Earth and priming it for two additional flybys in September 2026 and January 2029. Only then will the spacecraft, now boosted into high gear, make its grand arrival at Jupiter in July 2031.<\/p>\n

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, in Laurel, Maryland, manages the JoEE and JENI instruments, which together make up the Particle Environment Package (PEP-Hi) instrument suite, for NASA on ESA\u2019s Juice mission. The JoEE and JENI instruments are part of the Solar System Exploration Program, managed at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information on NASA\u2019s involvement with ESA\u2019s Juice mission, visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/juice\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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From Aug. 19-20, ESA\u2019s (European Space Agency\u2019s) Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission made history with a daring lunar-Earth flyby and double gravity assist maneuver, a spaceflight first. As the spacecraft zipped past our Moon and home planet, Juice\u2019s instruments came online for a dry run of what they\u2019ll do when they reach Jupiter. During [\u2026] Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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