Contribution of PRIDE VLBI products to the joint JUICE-Europa Clipper moons’ ephemerides solution

In the coming decade, JUICE and Europa Clipper radio-science will yield the most accurate estimation to date of the Galilean moons’ physical parameters and ephemerides. JUICE's PRIDE (Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment) will help achieve such a solution by providing VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) observations of...

Aerocapture at Jupiter: A Feasibility Assessment

The current project investigated the feasibility of aerocapture at Jupiter, and the benefits in terms of payload mass fraction that could be achieved compared to traditional orbital insertion burns. A numerical simulation model has been set up, as well as an analytical formulation of the problem. The numerical verification of the analytical...

Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to maximise observing opportunities. We review the Jupiter science enabled by the JUICE mission, building on the legacy of discoveries from the...

Circumplanetary disk ices: I. Ice formation vs. viscous evolution and grain drift

Context. The large icy moons of Jupiter formed in a circumplanetary disk (CPD). CPDs are fed by vertically infalling circumstellar gas and dust which may be shock-heated upon accretion. Accreted material is then either incorporated into moons, falls into the planet, or is lost beyond the disk edge on relatively short timescales. If ices are...

Formation of Planetary Atmospheres: Signatures of amorphous water ice delivery

The delivery of enriched icy grains has been proposed to explain the enrichment of Jupiter with noble gases. While consideration has been given to the formation composition of the ices, the release of species as grains migrates inward toward the forming planets has not been studied extensively. The accretion and subsequent desorption of noble...

Atmospheric Characterisation of Jupiter using Polarimetric Data

Jupiter is the most visited outer solar system planet, but the exact variation in atmospheric properties along its disk remains largely a mystery. This is where polarimetry fits into the picture. Its added value to spectrometry by additionally measuring the polarisation degree and direction of light makes it a suitable remote sensing tool for...

Volcanism on Io: A Comparison Between the Volcanic Distribution and Tidal Stress

Io is Jupiter's innermost Galilean satellite and the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its volcanism is driven by tidal heating generated by its interaction with Jupiter and maintained by other Galilean satellites. The tidal forces acting on Io also cause significant stresses on its interior. It is investigated if tensional...

MAJIS instrument characterization

The JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission by ESA aims to explore the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants. MAJIS (Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer) is the visible to near-infrared imaging spectrometer onboard JUICE which will characterize the surfaces and exospheres of...

Jupiter's ammonia distribution derived from VLA maps at 3–37 GHz

We observed Jupiter four times over a full rotation (10 h) with the upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) between December 2013 and December 2014. Preliminary results at 4–17 GHz were presented in de Pater et al. (2016); in the present paper we present the full data set at frequencies between 3 and 37 GHz. Major findings are: i) The...

Characterization of the Atmosphere in Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Polarimetry is a powerful remote sensing technique that can be used to characterize plane- tary atmospheres and potentially, to detect and characterize exoplanets. The degree of linear polarization as a function of wavelength and phase angle varies with the presence and compo- sition of cloud, haze and gas particles. In particular, when in-situ...

Alignment calibration of the GALA laser altimeter through laser ranging to Earth: Development of a calibration for the Ganymede Laser Altimeter

As part of the ESA mission to Jupiter and Ganymede carried out by the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft, the Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) will determine the topography and detect Ganymede’s tidal degree-2 signal in order to investigate the existence of a subsurface ocean and constrain its thickness. To deliver successful...

Jupiter's radiation belts at 13.8 GHz

The Jupiter flyby of Cassini in 2001 allowed to study the gas giant in detail. Jupiter’s inner magnetosphere is populated by high energy particles, causing an intense radiation observable throughout the microwave regime. The re-calibration of the Cassini RADAR instrument has allowed for constraining the energy distribution of the electron...

Modelling the orbital-tidal evolution of the Galilean moon Io

Io, the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter, is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its volcanism is driven by tidal foces, which are in turn sustained by the Laplace resonance between Io, Europa, and Ganymede. Tides have significant impact on a body's characteristics. The liquid ocean underneath Europa's icy surface is...

Europan tidal deformation: Providing a theoretical framework for altimetry data to determine ocean presence