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[EN VIDÉO] Saturn: the giant with rings of ice and dust Embark on a journey to meet the second largest planet in the solar system: Saturn. A gas giant is surrounded by a large number of shiny rings that do not leave anyone indifferent when observed. Learn about the world of Saturn, which has been closely explored for 13 years by the Cassini probe.
it is inastronomermathematician and physical Dutch Christian Higgins (1629-1695) that we owe a discovery to Saturn’s rings in 1655. To tell the truth, it has been well observed in astronomical telescopes since then Galileo But no one until Huygens had clear observations highlighting their nature and it was also he who derived from his interpretation of the existence of rings around Saturn a verifiable prediction that convinces his colleagues: the observation at the edge of these rings in 1671.
Until the 1970s, only Saturn’s rings were known, but in 1979 the Voyager 1 probe revealed rings Jupiter. In 1989, the probe Voyager 2 It will make it possible to film episodes Neptune whose existence was proven in 1984 thanks to the monitoring programhide From the stars presented by Andre Braich and colleagues, Bruno Siccardi and Françoise Roques at Paris Meudon Observatory, and produced by Patrice Bouchet, Reinhold Hafner and Jean Manfreud at La Silla Observatory (ESO).
In 1995, on the Cassiopée program, André Brahic and his collaborator Cecile Ferrari told us about the discovery of the rings of planets in the solar system. © Jean-Pierre Luminet
In fact, it rings aroundUranus It was actually discovered by accident on March 10, 1977 by James L. Elliott, Edward W. Dunham and Douglas J. Gerard P. Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO; in French “Gerard P. Kuiper Airborne Observatory”) which was a project of NASA To develop research in infrared astronomy.
Jovian tension rings are constantly fed with dust
But back to the rings of Jupiter. Unlike Saturn’s, the Jovian ring system is weak and composed mostly of dust rather than ice, and these reasons explain why it took so long to discover it. It is divided into several episodes: the aura, the main episode, and the Gossamer episodes. In particular, it has been studied using telescope Hubble and sensors Galileo And the Juno.
We do not yet know the origin of Saturn’s rings, nor when they are dated. This is an open topicAnalogously, we wondered why Jupiter doesn’t have a similar ring system, which is slightly larger than Saturn and larger than Saturn. Two astronomers from the University of California Riverside in the USA presented arXiv An article in which they propose an answer to this riddle.
In a statement from the university, one of the authors of the article said, Stephen KingExplain that who – which [l]We were so upset that Jupiter doesn’t have the most amazing rings that would put Saturn in such a disgrace. If Jupiter had them, they would appear brighter to us, because the planet is much closer to Saturn. This prompted the researcher to wonder if Jupiter had rings in the past, rings that would have disappeared due to the instability of celestial mechanics with gravitational disturbances, tidal forces so is echo gravity.
The Computers Modern improvements and simulations of consequences of lawsAstrophysics That they let it so was exploited by Stephen Kane and doctoral student Zhexing Li to find out for sure. Therefore, the two men sought the effects made by the four moons Jupiter Principles, IoEurope , Ganymede And Callisto has rings around Jupiter.
The results weren’t long in coming, as Kane again explained in a press release: We discovered that there are Galilean moons of Jupiter, one of which is our largest moon solar systemIt will quickly destroy any large rings that may form “.
For this reason, the rings of Jupiter that we know about are not very massive, and it is believed that they are regularly supplied with dust by impacts of micrometeorites on other moons smaller than Jupiter, such as Thebes, Amalthea and especially Adrastea and Metis.
Jupiter The color mosaic consists of 27 images taken from nine locations (in red, green and blue) by the Cassini-Huygens probe on December 29, 2000, when it was 10 million kilometers from Jupiter. This is the best picture of Jupiter ever, which allows you to see the details, the smallest of which is 60 km.
The Shoemaker-Levy Effect on Jupiter The photo was taken in July 1994, right after the impact.
IU and Cassini Jupiter
Jupiter and its system
breakout on io Incredible photos of the eruption of the Io volcano in the Tvshtar region
europe ice pack 1
Europe ice pack 2
Outbreak on Ayo: Tvshtar District Lava fountains in the caldera in the Tvshtar region.
Snow slopes in Europe
Europe Structure Models
Volcanic plumes on Io
Evolution of volcanic plumes on Io
Evolution of the Earth on Io
Important volcanic areas on Io
Comparison of the major satellites of Jupiter (surfaces)
Comparison of the major satellites of Jupiter
Comparison between Io and Amalthe In this image we compare the size of two moons of Jupiter. Note the similarity in color which probably means that Amalthe owes its color to plumes of sulfur ejected by Io.
Lava fountains on Io
Tvshtar volcanic area
Recently drowned on Io The image shows, in the dark, a recent influx of Io, covering an ancient (?) deposit area. For more: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02557
Sodium clouds surrounding Io This image, taken with filters, shows the gaseous atmosphere of sodium and sulfur from eruptions on Io. For more information: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01111
When the buyer approaches On September 21, 2010, Jupiter was 591 million km from Earth, the shortest distance since 1963. Then the planet shone with a force of -2.9. © BA Tafrishi
Asteroid disintegrating in Jupiter’s atmosphere June 3, 2010: A flash of light recorded in Jupiter’s atmosphere revealed the disintegration of a small celestial body. We can notice that the southern equatorial band is missing (it is below the bright spot), obscured for several weeks by white clouds. © A Wesley
When amateur astronomers photograph Jupiter’s satellites A selection of the best images of Jupiter’s moons taken between 2007 and 2010 by amateur astronomers. © D.Peach / M. Carrier / D. Lusine / J.-P. Prost
Temporary disappearance of the southern equatorial strip Between the image on the left taken in 2006 by C. Go and the image on the right taken in May 2010 by A. Wesley, the disappearance of the southern equatorial band is evident. © Sea Jo and A. Wesley
The red spot in the infrared The top image shows the Great Red Spot and its surroundings imaged in visible by the Hubble Telescope in May 2008. At the bottom, an infrared image made at the VLT at the same time made it possible to map a heat. © ESO / Nasa / JPL / Esa / L. Fletcher
Impact on Jupiter in 2009 The image was taken on July 23, 2009 by WFC-3, the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera. It shows the scattering of debris from the asteroid or comet that hit Jupiter’s upper atmosphere four days ago. © NASA / Esa / H. Hummel (Institute of Space Sciences) / Jupiter Impact Team
The Great Red Spot and its Little Sisters Hubble took three pictures of Jupiter’s red spots in 2008. The arrow points to the small spot that protrudes from the large image, which has lost its red color. ©NASA/ISA/A. Simon Miller (Goddard Space Flight Center) / N. Chanover (New Mexico State University) / J. Orton (JPL)
Aurora on Jupiter Like all planets with a magnetic field, Jupiter shows auroras, imaged here by the Hubble Telescope. © NASA/ISA/John Clark (University of Michigan)
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