Jupiter Archives

Joint Dynamical-geophysical Evidence For A Limit Cycle In The Galilean Moons

by Keith CowingAugust 7, 2026August 7, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Io, Europa, and Ganymede orbit in the Laplace mean-motion resonance, where their orbital and thermochemical evolution are strongly coupled [1-5]. Forced eccentricities sustain tidal dissipation, powering Io’s volcanism and […]

Jupiter

Self-consistent 1D Modelling Of Jupiter’s Upper Atmosphere As An Exoplanet Analogue

by Keith CowingAugust 7, 2026August 7, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Jupiter’s upper atmosphere provides a real-world laboratory for validating first-principles models of giant gaseous exoplanets and for constraining the key physical processes that govern them.

Lava World Recon: Juno Measures Subsurface Temperature Of Io

by Keith CowingAugust 2, 2026August 2, 2026

[SwRI] NASA’s Juno mission has made the first direct measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, which reveal significant heating in the upper few feet of […]

The north polar region of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io was captured by NASA’s Juno during the spacecraft’s 57th close pass of the gas giant on Dec. 30, 2023. Data from that flyby and one on Feb. 3, 2024, is helping scientists understand Io’s interior. Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Gerald Eichstädt

Lava World Recon: Juno Studies Io’s Volcanoes

by Keith CowingJuly 23, 2026July 23, 2026

[NASA] NASA’s Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically […]

Ganymede and Callisto As Seen By Voyager -- NASA

Jupiter

The Recent Crossing Of The 7:3 Resonance Between Ganymede And Callisto

by Keith CowingJuly 10, 2026July 10, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Io, Europa and Ganymede are locked in the well-known Laplace resonance, while Callisto is not, even though it is very close to the 7:3 mean motion resonance with Ganymede. […]

Pioneer 10 sails past Jupiter - Juno image of Jupiter from NASA and graphic by Grok via Astrobiology.com

Missions & Hardware

Pioneer 10/11 Telemetry Explanatory Almanac

by Keith CowingJuly 9, 2026July 9, 2026

[astro-ph.IM] This document is intended to accompany our first release of edited Pioneer 10/11 telemetry data. The purpose of this data release is to provide a data set for the […]

A northern polar projection of Jupiter indicating the latitude and longitude ranges adopted for coaddition of individual spectra. The circumference latitude is 40◦ (planetocentric), enclosed concentric circles are spaced by 4◦ in latitude. The magenta line represents the statistical mean position of the auroral oval (Bonfond et al., 2017). Spatial bins in black represent regions that do not overlap in latitude with the auroral oval, blue and red spatial bins represents areas outside and inside the auroral oval, respectively. TEXES achieves diffraction-limited spatial resolutions of 0.7” to 1.4” over the wavelength range adopted in this study, which corresponds to a latitude-longitude footprint of 5-10◦ at 60◦N. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Status Report

Detection Of Propadiene (CH2CCH2), Propene (C3H6) And Non-detection Of Propane (C3H8) In Jupiter’s Northern Polar Stratosphere

by Keith CowingMay 25, 2026May 25, 2026

We report the first detection of stratospheric propadiene (CH2CCH2) and propene (C3H6) at Jupiter’s mid-to-high northern latitudes using IRTF-TEXES measurements recorded on March 5-6, 2025.

Astrogeology, Callisto, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Press Release

Ganymede Might Still Be Forming Its Metal Core Today

by Keith CowingMay 18, 2026May 18, 2026

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system; at over 3,200 miles across, it is larger than the planet Mercury. It is also the only moon with […]

Numerical ocean-induction setup for Ganymede in a deep-ocean scenario with REM = 1.77 . Ganymede's internal structure is depicted, featuring the ice crust, the deep ocean with its simulated zonal flow, the internal ice layer, the silicate mantle, and the metallic core. Yellow tubes visualize the magnetic field lines. The bottom-right panel shows how magnetic field lines are sheared by the zonal (east–west) jet flow in the ocean (blue/red denote westward/eastward jets, respectively), thereby reflecting the secondary magnetic field induced by such dynamics. -- Geophysical Research Letters

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Motional Induction in Ganymede’s Ocean

by Keith CowingMay 10, 2026May 11, 2026

We investigate the magnetic signature of oceanic circulation in Ganymede’s subsurface ocean using kinematic induction modeling. Our approach couples zonal jet flows from rotating thermal convection simulations with magnetic field […]

Titan is an abode of NH3. (A) Titan captured by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem. The thick atmosphere of Titan is visible by a haze across the surface and a lack of surface details. Saturn’s other moon, Tethys, is observed behind Titan. Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute. (B) False-colour mosaic of Titan obtained by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer of Cassini. Colours correspond to atmospheric (red) and surface features (green and blue). The inset image indicates the possible occurrence of a cryovolcano on the surface. Cryovolcanic slurries of water, NH3, and methanol have been tentatively observed on the surface. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report, Titan

Ammonia As A Parameter Shaping Habitability On Icy Moons

by Keith CowingMay 6, 2026May 6, 2026

The search for life now extends beyond the traditional habitable zone to include the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. These moons feature ice-covered surfaces overlying substantial oceans formed primarily […]