Depending on their opacity, the clouds appear as light zones or dark belts, giving Jupiter its famous banded appearance. The lowest part of the atmosphere, the weather layer, is characterised by a complicated system of hazes and clouds. JUICE's investigations of Jupiter-the archetypical giant planet-will provide new insight into the myriad processes shaping giant planet weather, climate, and atmospheric chemistry, both in our Solar System and beyond. JUICE will study Jupiter's complex and ever-changing atmosphere-from the churning clouds of the troposphere up to the high thermosphere-with emphasis on its vertical structure, composition, and the processes that shape it. Much of JUICE's focus will also be on Jupiter itself, extending the discoveries made with the Galileo spacecraft and complementing the work of NASA's Juno mission. To find out more about the origin and dynamics of the rings, the mission will also explore their physical properties and chemical composition. JUICE will study Jupiter's small inner satellites by investigating their shape and composition and shedding light on how these objects relate to the rings. Another uncertainty is how the dust in the rings is replenished: due to the violent processes at Jupiter, which remove small particles, the tenuous ring system would not be a long-lived feature without new material regularly being added to it. Dust ejected by these small satellites is believed to provide the material in the rings, though the exact composition and age of the system is unknown. Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe orbit the gas giant from about 127 000 kilometres to 222 000 kilometres, respectively, passing through Jupiter's ring system. JUICE will also remotely explore the smaller inner moons of Jupiter and its faint, dusty rings. JUICE will monitor the volcanic activity of Io and determine the composition of different surface materials. Eruptions from its 400 active volcanoes release lava onto Io's surface, while gases and other substances escape to the moon's thin atmosphere and Jupiter's magnetosphere. At Io, the inward gravitational pull from Jupiter and the outward pull from the other Galilean moons results in intense tidal heating, which drives the moon's geological activity. While JUICE's focus is on the icy moons, the mission will also gather information about the innermost Galilean satellite, Io, the most volcanically active object in our Solar System. ![]() ![]() By studying it we can learn more about how the Solar System and exoplanetary systems work, how planets form, and how life can emerge under different conditions. With a multitude of moons representing unique environments, and a central object with a composition similar to that of the Sun, the Jovian system is akin to a small-scale star system. JUICE's secondary target: the Jupiter systemĪlthough much of the focus of the JUICE mission is on the icy Galilean moons, its work of exploring how habitable worlds emerge around gas giants would not be complete without a comprehensive overview of the Jovian system.
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