Juno Tunes Into Jupiter’s Radio Transmissions

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has observed the interaction of particles from Io’s volcanoes with Jupiter’s massive magnetic field, causing radio transmissions.

IMAGE: This is a representation of the Jupiter-Io system and interaction. The blue cloud is the Io plasma torus, which is a region of higher concentration of ions and electrons located at Io’s orbit. This conceptual image shows the radio emission pattern from Jupiter. The multi-colored lines represent the magnetic field lines that link Io’s orbit with Jupiter’s atmosphere. The radio waves emerge from the source which is located at the line of force in the magnetic field and propagate along the walls of a hollow cone (grey area). Juno receives the signal only when Jupiter’s rotation sweeps that cone over the spacecraft, in the same way a lighthouse beacon shines briefly upon a ship at sea. Juno’s orbit is represented by the white line crossing the cone. CREDIT: NASA/GSFC/Jay Friedlander

By now, most of my audience likely knows that my favorite moon is Io, the closest in of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons. Io is an incredibly volcanic body, constantly being squeezed by the gravitational forces of both Jupiter and two of…