Title
Jupiter cloud morphology and zonal winds from ground-based observations before and during Juno's first perijove
Date Issued
28 May 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
research article
Author(s)
Hueso R.
Sánchez-Lavega A.
Iñurrigarro P.
Rojas J.F.
Pérez-Hoyos S.
Mendikoa I.
Gómez-Forrellad J.M.
Go C.
Peach D.
Vedovato M.
Observatoire de Paris
Abstract
We analyze Jupiter observations between December 2015 and August 2016 in the 0.38–1.7 μm wavelength range from the PlanetCam instrument at the 2.2 m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory and in the optical range by amateur observers contributing to the Planetary Virtual Observatory Laboratory. Over this time Jupiter was in a quiescent state without notable disturbances. Analysis of ground-based images and Hubble Space Telescope observations in February 2016 allowed the retrieval of mean zonal winds from −74.5° to +73.2°. These winds did not change over 2016 or when compared with winds from previous years with the sole exception of intense zonal winds at the North Temperate Belt. We also present results concerning the major wave systems in the North Equatorial Belt and in the upper polar hazes visible in methane absorption bands, a description of the planet's overall cloud morphology and observations of Jupiter hours before Juno's orbit insertion.
Start page
4669
End page
4678
Volume
44
Issue
10
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Astronomía
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85019760201
Source
Geophysical Research Letters
ISSN of the container
00948276
Sponsor(s)
This study is partially based on observations obtained at Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, Observatorio de Calar Alto MPIA-CSIC, Almería, Spain, operated jointly by the Max Planck Institut für Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). We are indebted to the following amateur astronomers: T. Barry, R. Bossman, J.P. Cazard, A. Coffelt, J.L. Dauvergne, M. Delcroix, A. Garbelini, P. Miles, M. Lewis, R. Iwamasa, T. Kozawa, E. Kraaikamp, T. Kumamori, B. MacDonald, T. Olivetti, S. Poshyachinda, K. Quin, F. Silva Correa, S. Walker, and A. Wesley. Amateur observations in this research can be downloaded from PVOL2 (http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvol2/) or ALPO Japan (http://alpo-j.asahikawa-med.ac.jp/). HST/OPAL observations can be downloaded from https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/opal/. PlanetCam images appear in the supporting information. We also thank the HST/OPAL team for their planning of these observations. This work was supported by the Spanish project AYA2015-65041-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE), Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT-765-13 and UPV/EHU UFI11/55, and “Infraestructura” grants from Gobierno Vasco and UPV/EHU.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus