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Jupiter's Extremes Explored: Juno Insights, Io Volcanism, and Europa's Subsurface Ocean
Overview
BBC Earth summarizes how NASA's Juno mission is unveiling Jupiter's extreme environment, from the Great Red Spot to the giant planet's dramatic auroras.
The program also highlights Io's volcanism, Europa's possible subsurface ocean and the missions poised to explore them, including the Europa Clipper.
Introduction
Jupiter is portrayed as the most extreme environment NASA has visited. Juno carries sophisticated instruments to peer beneath the cloud tops and map the planet's interior and atmosphere, revealing a landscape shaped by residual heat and intense magnetism rather than solar energy alone.
Auroras, Atmosphere, and Lightning
Across Jupiter's poles, auroras outshine Earth’s and are driven by the planet’s powerful magnetic field. Io’s volcanic plumes feed energy into the magnetosphere, fueling dramatic light displays. Lightning in Jupiter’s clouds appears far brighter than terrestrial lightning, suggesting a rich, watery lower atmosphere.
The Interior and Core
Juno's data indicate a large, dense core likely comprising rocks and ices, surrounded by layers of hydrogen and helium. At extreme pressures, hydrogen behaves like a liquid metal, generating a colossal magnetic field that shapes the entire magnetosphere and auroral dynamics.
Io and Europa: Moons in Focus
Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system, with plumes rising hundreds of kilometers. The proposed Io Volcano Observer would perform close flybys to measure tidal heating and possibly reveal magma ocean characteristics. Europa is a prime candidate for habitable conditions due to a suspected subsurface ocean beneath an ice shell; the Europa Clipper mission will conduct multiple flybys to sample surface material and, potentially, plume ejecta to infer ocean chemistry.
Future Missions and Open Questions
The video outlines the challenges of operating in Jupiter’s radiation environment and the need for radiation-hardened electronics. It discusses how missions like Europa Clipper and a future Europa ocean probe could illuminate whether oxygen or other life-supporting conditions exist in Europa’s ocean, and how Jupiter’s early migration shaped water delivery to Earth. The exploration is framed as ongoing, with many questions about life, chemistry, and planetary formation still to answer.