Space Probes

Io as seen by the Juno space probe (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing: Gerald Eichstädt/Thomas Thomopoulos (CC BY))

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At the European Geophysical Union General Assembly held in Vienna last week, NASA’s Juno mission principal investigator Scott Bolton illustrated some new discoveries offered by the Juno space probe, including some regarding Io, Jupiter’s volcano-covered moon. Io was also studied by a team of researchers who used the ALMA radio telescope to map the movements of sulfur isotopes and reconstruct the tidal heating that generates the intense volcanic activity. The results were published in an article in the journal “Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets”.

Artist's concept of the impact of a dwarf planet on Pluto (Image courtesy University of Bern, Illustration: Thibaut Roger)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” offers an explanation for the formation of the large and deep basin known as Sputnik Planitia on Pluto with its characteristic heart shape. A team of scientists coordinated by the Swiss University of Bern created computer simulations that indicate that the depression that is some kilometers deep could have been generated by an impact with an object with a diameter of around 700 kilometers that occurred at an oblique angle and was relatively slow. The results of these simulations also suggest that Pluto likely doesn’t have a subsurface ocean of liquid water, unlike other studies.

Dantu crater on the dwarf planet Ceres (Image courtesy Maria Cristina De Sanctis et al., Communications Earth & Environment, 2024)

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An article published in the journal “Communications Earth & Environment” reports the discovery of ammonium-rich areas in the famous bright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres. A team of researchers composed of Maria Cristina De Sanctis, Filippo Giacomo Carrozzo, Mauro Ciarniello, Simone De Angelis, Marco Ferrari, Alessandro Frigeri, and Andrea Raponi from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics’ Institute of Space Astrophysics and Planetology in Rome and Eleonora Ammanito of the Italian Space Agency examined data collected by NASA’s Dawn space probe focusing on Dantu crater to identify these compounds, which include a new ammonium salt.

Artist's impression of a dust-generating Kuiper Belt collision (Image courtesy Dan Durda, FIAAA)

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports a study of the presence of dust in the Kuiper Belt which suggests that it may be much more extended than previously thought or that there’s a second Belt outside the known one. A team of researchers used detections conducted with NASA’s New Horizons space probe’s Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC, or simply SDC) instrument to support these possibilities. That’s because current models indicate that dust density should decrease in the area where New Horizons is traveling, where detections are higher than expected.

The Psyche space probe blasting off atop a Falcon Heavy rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, NASA’s Psyche space probe blasted off atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. After just over an hour, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and set off on its route that will take it into deep space, towards asteroid 16 Psyche, which it will reach towards the end of July 2029 to study its structure composed mainly of iron-nickel.

Within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and right now about 3.6 billion kilometers away from Earth, asteroid 16 Psyche is one of the largest known. It’s an M-type asteroid, the type with the highest metal content. It has an irregular shape with a maximum length of almost 280 kilometers, which brings it close to the size of a dwarf planet.