The first generation of photos of Ganymede – Jupiter’s giant icy moon

Interplanetary automatic station Juno, which is exploring the Jupiter system, sent the first two images of Ganymede – the largest satellite not only of its planet, but also in the entire solar system. Photos are posted on the mission subsite on the NASA portal.

The first flight of the probe over Ganymede took place on June 7.

One photo with a resolution of ~ 1 km / pixel – from the JunoCam thermal imaging camera (almost the entire side of the Galilean satellite covered with water ice).

The second photo with a resolution of 600-900 m / pixel – from the navigation camera Stellar Reference Unit: the dark, opposite to the Sun, side of the moon, flooded with dim light scattered from Jupiter.

See also: NASA probe near Jupiter was rescued from a cold “death” in the dark

Both show a surface with remarkable details: craters, long folds and other structures (possibly tectonic faults), and other elements.

No other spacecraft has come close to Ganymede in a generation.

Watch the video: The probe near Jupiter showed a grandiose light storm in the atmosphere of the gas giant

In the coming days, Juno will be sending more images from the flyover over Ganymede (unretouched original images will be available here).

You can find out exactly where Juno is at any time using NASA’s interactive Solar System Gaze program.

Ganymede is one of Jupiter’s moons, the largest (∅ = 5268 km) in the solar system. Opened on January 7, 1610. The diameter is 8% larger than that of Mercury, the mass is only 45% of the mass of Mercury, but a record among the satellites of the planets (> 2 times the mass of the Moon). Consists of approximately equal amounts of silicate rocks and water ice; with a liquid core rich in iron. Presumably, at a depth of ~ 200 km between the layers of ice there is an ocean of liquid water. The only satellite with a magnetosphere. There is a subtle atmosphere. Explored its probes Pioneer-10, both Voyager, Galileo and Juno. The next mission is JUICE.

• Launched in 2011, Juno arrived on Jupiter on July 4, 2016, and will complete scheduled targets this July. Now the device, which was “sharpened” for collecting data mainly about the gas giant (about the gravitational and magnetic fields, internal structure), is exploring the system “Jupiter + its rings + the largest Galilean satellites”.
• The approved mission expansion envisions 42 additional orbits around the largest planet in the solar system, including close flyby over Jupiter’s north polar cyclones, as well as passages around Io (11), Ganymede (2), Europa (3), and the first extensive exploration of the planet’s faint rings.
• Meetings with satellites began with a low-altitude flyby of Ganymede on June 7, 2021 (orbital PJ34), as a result of which the orbital period was reduced from 53 to 43 days. This will then be followed by a close flyby over Europe on September 29, 2022 (PJ45), which will reduce the orbital period to 38 days. A pair of close fly-bys around Io on December 30, 2023 (PJ57) and February 3, 2024 (PJ58) will collectively shorten the orbital period to 33 days.
• The mission extension is designed to maximize fuel savings (not including the main engine) through gravity assist when flying near satellites.