The original image was captured by JunoCam, the camera on NASA’s Juno mission in orbit around Jupiter. This image was taken on Juno’s 22nd close pass by Jupiter on Sept. 12, 2019 […]
Derp, when I saw the post I first thought “But didn’t the James Webb just launch?” then I thought “No that’s the previous one, the new one is called something else.” In any case I didn’t investigate further.
The Webb telescope will reach its destination at L2 in just a couple of days now, but it will still need months to adjust all the hexagonal mirror segments to work as one large mirror as well as cool down to the extremely low temperature required before it’s ready to start observing.
I read somewhere years ago that Jupiter emits more radiation (in radio frequencies) than it receives from the Sun, giving it the status of a (failed) star.
The Earth would be stone cold and covered with ice were it not for nuclear reactions taking place deep within it; since long, long agao. They keep us all warm, and the temperature cycle, within acceptable limits for life here in the ‘Goldilocks Zone.’.
Not quite, Omar. The Earth’s interior would certainly have frozen to solid stone long ago if not for radioactivity, but the surface does not need heat from the interior to stay warm at all. But the solid interior would spell the end of our magnetic field, which acts as a protective barrier against atmospheric stripping from solar wind, and all manner of incoming radiation. We would have had a very challenging environment to evolve in without it.
It is actually quite rare for a planet to emit *less* radiation than it receives; the only example in our star system that approaches this is Uranus, which is tipped onto its side like a drunkard, and likely had a series of major impacts to thank for that and for churning its insides to its outsides and shedding much of the latent heat of its formation.
In particular, Jupiter and Saturn are hot for the same reason a gas heats up when you squish it…it just so happens that these planets have a lot of gas that was squished a great deal, and the only way to shed all of that heat is for the top layers to emit infrared radiation out into space. This heat-shedding is proportional to the surface area of the bodies involved, whereas the heat generated by all that squishing is proportional to the volume (and hence the mass and density) of the planets — in Jupiter’s case, that mass is more than the rest of the solar system put together packed into a volume not much bigger than Saturn, so you can imagine it has quite a lot of built-up heat to shed. (A similar principle obtains for biological entities, the so-called “square-cube” law, which sets practical limits on how large a creature can get before its internal heat would cook it alive.)
Thank you, everybody, for all the fascinating information.
What a wonderful group of people Ophelia has collected with her blog. This is one reason I always have a tab open to Butterflies & Wheels. The other reason is, of course, that Ophelia herself writes so beautifully. Even when ranting.
tigger: wrong.! Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 200 quid.
OB has never been known to rant. She has done her block once or twice in my experience (I am an old hand around here) but never without reason or provocation. A model of cool control and self-awareness, I’d say. IMHO.
Omar, I’m effectively in jail already (well, if it counts that my health keeps me under house arrest and a curfew between sunrise and sunset), but your comment just goes to show how little men are able to understand women. ;-)
“If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention” — is that how the bumper sticker reads? Say what you like, our esteemed hostess is definitely paying attention.
The origin for the term “Ranter” seems to come from an anonymous pamphlet titled “A Justification of the Mad Crew”, where the word rant was used in reference to the enemies of those espousing this particular view, equating ranting with hypocrisy. The anonymous author calls those who would eventually be deemed Ranters “the Mad Crew” instead. There is also a confluence between the term “Ranter” with the verb rent, as in to be rent away from God. Most written evidence points to the use of “Ranter” as an insult by the enemies of the sect and not a self designated moniker. By the 1660s, the term became attached to any group that promoted theological deviance but since most of the literary evidence we have was created by those opposed to Ranters in general, it is difficult to determine their exact creed..
IMHO, it is good that all that is behind us, and that we can look forward with confidence and joy to a rant-free future, with a minimum of theological deviance, at least here at BandW. ;-)
But wasn’t it only just launched? How could it have been taking fly-by photos in 2019?
It’s from the JWST Facebook page, but it says
Thank you, Steven, for clearing up my confusion.
In any case, however that image was obtained it is stunning, awe-inspiring and humbling.
in pure coincidence, I learned today that Jupiter is emitting more energy than it gets from the sun. Where is this energy originating?
Derp, when I saw the post I first thought “But didn’t the James Webb just launch?” then I thought “No that’s the previous one, the new one is called something else.” In any case I didn’t investigate further.
But NICE SNAP.
The Webb telescope will reach its destination at L2 in just a couple of days now, but it will still need months to adjust all the hexagonal mirror segments to work as one large mirror as well as cool down to the extremely low temperature required before it’s ready to start observing.
https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html
Looks like a Van Gough!
tigger @#4:
I read somewhere years ago that Jupiter emits more radiation (in radio frequencies) than it receives from the Sun, giving it the status of a (failed) star.
The Earth would be stone cold and covered with ice were it not for nuclear reactions taking place deep within it; since long, long agao. They keep us all warm, and the temperature cycle, within acceptable limits for life here in the ‘Goldilocks Zone.’.
Not quite, Omar. The Earth’s interior would certainly have frozen to solid stone long ago if not for radioactivity, but the surface does not need heat from the interior to stay warm at all. But the solid interior would spell the end of our magnetic field, which acts as a protective barrier against atmospheric stripping from solar wind, and all manner of incoming radiation. We would have had a very challenging environment to evolve in without it.
@Tigger
Jupiter is still cooling and shrinking (estimated ~1mm/year). What’s a billion years or so, for a planet that massive? :-O
(Ans: ~1000 km. And after 4.5 billion years, Jupiter’s diameter is *still* 140 of those …. :-O )
It is actually quite rare for a planet to emit *less* radiation than it receives; the only example in our star system that approaches this is Uranus, which is tipped onto its side like a drunkard, and likely had a series of major impacts to thank for that and for churning its insides to its outsides and shedding much of the latent heat of its formation.
In particular, Jupiter and Saturn are hot for the same reason a gas heats up when you squish it…it just so happens that these planets have a lot of gas that was squished a great deal, and the only way to shed all of that heat is for the top layers to emit infrared radiation out into space. This heat-shedding is proportional to the surface area of the bodies involved, whereas the heat generated by all that squishing is proportional to the volume (and hence the mass and density) of the planets — in Jupiter’s case, that mass is more than the rest of the solar system put together packed into a volume not much bigger than Saturn, so you can imagine it has quite a lot of built-up heat to shed. (A similar principle obtains for biological entities, the so-called “square-cube” law, which sets practical limits on how large a creature can get before its internal heat would cook it alive.)
Thank you, everybody, for all the fascinating information.
What a wonderful group of people Ophelia has collected with her blog. This is one reason I always have a tab open to Butterflies & Wheels. The other reason is, of course, that Ophelia herself writes so beautifully. Even when ranting.
tigger: wrong.! Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 200 quid.
OB has never been known to rant. She has done her block once or twice in my experience (I am an old hand around here) but never without reason or provocation. A model of cool control and self-awareness, I’d say. IMHO.
Omar, I’m effectively in jail already (well, if it counts that my health keeps me under house arrest and a curfew between sunrise and sunset), but your comment just goes to show how little men are able to understand women. ;-)
Women know when another woman is ranting.
Hahahaha I rant all the time. Kind of you to defend me Omar but I can’t pretend I’m mostly calm and even-tempered.
“If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention” — is that how the bumper sticker reads? Say what you like, our esteemed hostess is definitely paying attention.
Definitely paying attention and ranting like a maniac.
I stand corrected. Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Nothing ranted, nothing improved.
A new fortune cookie motto is born!
IMHO, it is good that all that is behind us, and that we can look forward with confidence and joy to a rant-free future, with a minimum of theological deviance, at least here at BandW. ;-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranters#:~:text=The%20Ranters%20were%20one%20of,organised%20and%20had%20no%20leader.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranters#:~:text=The%20Ranters%20were%20one%20of,organised%20and%20had%20no%20leader.
Webb has arrived at its destination :)
Hurrah!