JADE sensors Juno arrival press kit 01072016 224145

Hubble Captures Vivid Auroras in Jupiter's Atmosphere

Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) is an instrument that detects and measures ions and electrons around the spacecraft. It is a suite of detectors on the ''Juno'' Jupiter orbiter (launched 2011, orbiting Jupiter since 2016). JADE includes JADE-E, JADE-I, and the EBox. JADE-E and JADE-I are sensors that are spread out on the spacecraft, and the EBox is located inside the

Juno Radiation Vault Juno Radiation Vault is a compartment inside the ''Juno'' spacecraft that houses much of the probe's electronics and computers, and is intended to offer increased protection of radiation to the contents as the spacecraft endures the radiation en ...

. EBox stands for ''Electronics Box''. JADE-E is for detecting

electrons The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary partic ...

from 0.1 to 100 keV, and there are three JADE-E sensors on ''Juno''. JADE-I is for detecting

ions An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...

from 5 eV to 50 keV. It is designed to return data ''in situ'' on Jupiter's auroral region and magnetospheric plasmas, by observing electrons and ions in this region. It is primarily focused on Jupiter, but it was turned on in January 2016 while still en route to study inter-planetary space (It was several million miles from Jupiter at that time). JADE was built by

Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develo ...

(SwRI), located in the United States in Texas. Two other instruments help understand the magnetosphere of Jupiter,

WAVES Waves most often refers to: * Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. *Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music *Waves (band ...

and MAG. The

JEDI Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi ...

instrument measures higher energy ions and electrons and JADE lower energy ones, they are complementary. The JADE sensors, in addition to other materials, also use a special plastic designed to endure the spaceflight conditions. The instrument uses special molded rings of

polyether ether ketone Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is a colourless organic thermoplastic polymer in the polyaryletherketone (PAEK) family, used in engineering applications. The polymer was first developed in November 1978, later being introduced to the market by Vic ...

(PEEK). By May 2017, some of the first science analysis reported that JADE observed plasma coming up from the upper atmosphere of Jupiter into the Magnetosphere. Some auroral process were compared to ones at Earth, but there seemed to be other processes at work creating the auroras at Jupiter said the JADE project leader, in early 2017. Like Earth's aurora, scientists noted Jupiter's could be effected by the

Solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the ...

, however, many of the ions in the Jupiter aurora were different from those in Earth's.

JADE-E

Each of the three JADE-E electron sensors weighs 5.25 Kilograms (11.57 pounds, 0.827 stones) with dimensions of 21 cm on all sides; Each JADE-E sensor includes *top-hat electrostatic analyzer *two deflectors *Multi-channel plate detector *

anode An anode is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemoni ...

ring

JADE-I

The one JADE-I sensors is a spherical top hat electrostatic analyzer combined with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The sensor is made of nickel plated titanium metal. JADE-I sensor weighs 7.55 Kilograms(16.65 pounds, 1.1889 stones). JADE-I can measure ions from 1 to 50

atomic mass The atomic mass (''m''a or ''m'') is the mass of an atom. Although the SI unit of mass is the kilogram (symbol: kg), atomic mass is often expressed in the non-SI unit dalton (symbol: Da) – equivalently, unified atomic mass unit (u). 1&nbs ...

units (AMU), with the ability to discern

atomic hydrogen A hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. Atomic hydrogen const ...

, H₂⁺, H₃⁺,

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

and

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

References

{{Junojupiternav Juno (spacecraft) Spacecraft instruments

JADE-E

JADE-I

See also

References