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View Full Version here: : Jupiter Icy moons Explorer ("JUICE") imaged from Brisbane 15th April 2023


Dennis
16-04-2023, 09:09 AM
I had the opportunity to grab some images of the ESA Jupiter Icy moons Explorer ("JUICE") from Brisbane. The original launch date was 13th April but this was delayed due to poor weather, until 14th April 2023.

I managed to record 60x60 sec exposures (some cloud interrupted) and was surprised to find an object ahead of the plotted position keeping up with JUICE – I assume this might be the rocket booster? These are the 2 horizontal trails, the diagonal trail at bottom left zipped through the field early on in the series.

I obtained the predicted position from the JPL Horizons website.

To make things a little more interesting, we had a power outage part way through the evening and I had to re-boot everything and start over.

Capture Details:
Tak Mewlon 210 F11.5
Tak x0.8 Reducer
QHY268M Camera.

15th April 2023, 9:13PM to 10:14PM AEST
UTC: 2023-04-15T11:13 to 12:14.
Brisbane.

INTRODUCTION:
The Jupiter Icy moons Explorer ("JUICE") is an ESA mission launched on 14th April 2023 from French Guiana (ELA-3) on an Ariane 5. Its period and area of operations will overlap with NASA's Europa Clipper mission launching in 2024.

PURPOSE
The JUICE orbiter will investigate Ganymede and evaluate its potential to support life. Investigations of Europa and Callisto will compare these Galilean moons. The three moons are thought to have internal liquid water oceans, and are thought key to understanding the habitability of icy worlds.
Main science objectives for Ganymede (and Callisto to lesser extent):

Characterize ocean layers & detect detect any subsurface water reservoirs
Topographical, geological and compositional mapping of surface
Study the physical properties of the icy crusts
Characterisation of internal mass distribution and dynamics
Investigate Ganymede's tenuous atmosphere
Study Ganymede's magnetic field and interactions with Jovian magnetosphere

For Europa, the focus is on the chemistry essential to life. JUICE will also provide the first subsurface sounding of the moon, and determination of icy crust thickness over the most recently active regions.

TRAJECTORY OVERVIEW:

JUICE will have four gravity assist flybys of Venus and Earth and pass through the asteroid Main-Belt twice before arriving at Jupiter in July, 2031.
There will be a Ganymede flyby 7.5 hours prior to Jupiter orbit insertion.
The first Europa flyby will be in July 2032. The spacecraft will be placed in a high inclination orbit to allow exploration of Jupiter's polar regions and to study Jupiter's magnetosphere.
In December 2034, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than Earth's.


FLYBYS:

2024 Aug: Earth-Moon system (gravity-assist)
2025 Aug: Venus (gravity assist)
2026 Sep: Earth #2 (gravity assist)
2029 Jan: Earth #3 (gravity assist)
2029 Oct: Asteroid 223 Rosa [PROPOSED]
2031+ : more then 25 gravity assists, two Europa flybys


PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

3-axis stabilized
Power: solar panels, 85 m^2, 820W (EOM)
High-gain antenna: 2.5 m, body fixed
X- and Ka bands, downlink > 1.4 Gbit/day
Propulsion: bi-propellant main engine plus 10 thrusters
Delta-V capability (2700 m/s, ~3000 kg of chemical propellant)
Radiation level: 240 krad /10 mm Al solid sphere
Dry mass at launch: ~1800 kg
Deployable appendages:
10.6 meter boom for JMAG and RPWI
16-meter antenna for radar
Steerable medium gain antenna for comm and radio science


SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS (11):

Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator (JANUS, camera system)
Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS, VIS/IR imaging spectrograph)
UV Imaging Spectrograph (UVS, UV imaging spectrograph)
Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument (SWI, spectrometer)
Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA)
Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME, ice-penetrating 9 GHz, w/16m antenna)
JUICE-Magnetometer (J-MAG)
Particle Environment Package (PEP, suite of six sensors)
Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI)
Gravity and Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons (3GM, Ka transponder)
Planetary Radio Interferometer and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE)


Cheers

Dennis

Averton
16-04-2023, 06:23 PM
Just an amazing capture Dennis, can't believe you managed to do that. We wouldn't have even thought to try - well done!
Thanks for the JUICE mission details. We hope it is all successful.

Dennis
16-04-2023, 06:52 PM
Thanks Clare and Peter, I appreciate your comments.:)

The JPL Horizons website is incredibly useful for any solar system body and always seems to be bang up to date. The only gotcha is that sometimes I am not sure if I have extracted the J2000 coordinates, or the Apparent data for Brisbane that evening.:question:

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/

Cheers

Dennis

Dave882
16-04-2023, 10:09 PM
Wow that’s incredible Dennis. Amazing capture and very interesting info. I just had a look at that link thanks for that!

Dennis
17-04-2023, 09:02 AM
Thanks David, I appreciate your comments.:)

After entering the coordinates and slewing to the target, the left-hand object was centred in the field of view in a series of 20 sec test exposures and the right-hand object was moving off screen to the right.

So, I assume that the acquired target was the Ariane Rocket Booster, and the right-hand object was the now separated JUICE spacecraft?

So much easier using the Horizons website than trying to do the calculations via slide rule, or worse still, my old Logarithmic Table.;)

Cheers

Dennis

Averton
17-04-2023, 09:29 PM
Thanks for the link Dennis. We must try some time to capture something like this. We still have the log tables and slide rule but the modern methods are much easier and quicker :)

Derek Klepp
19-04-2023, 11:45 AM
Good to see you getting these Dennis.I,ve lost my Mojo of late.Hoping it returns over winter as work eases off.
Cheers Derek

gaseous
19-04-2023, 12:58 PM
Great capture Dennis. There's a very informative article on the JUICE mission in this month's issue of Astronomy magazine.

Dennis
20-04-2023, 07:46 AM
Thank you Derek and Patrick, I appreciate your comments.:)

Cheers

Dennis