(CNN) Beneath its heavy cloud cover, Jupiter has been able to keep its secrets from astronomers. Now, first results from NASA's Juno mission are challenging researchers' beliefs about the gas giant.

The results were revealed during a media teleconference Thursday with NASA researchers and published in corresponding studies through the journal Science and Geophysical Research Letters

Juno launched in August 2011 but didn't arrive at Jupiter until July . The craft has been orbiting the planet and performing calculated flybys over the clouds. These happen every 53 days as Juno "screams by" Jupiter, going from the north to south pole in about two hours.

"The general theme of our discoveries is really how different Jupiter looked from how we expected," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "This is a close-up and personal look at Jupiter. We thought it was uniform inside and relatively boring. What we're finding is anything but that. It's very complex. Jupiter from the poles doesn't look anything like it does from our usual view."

Technicians test the three massive solar arrays that power the Juno spacecraft. In this photo taken February 2, 2011, each solar array is unfurled at a Lockheed Martin Space Systems facility in Denver.

Technicians test the three massive solar arrays that power the Juno spacecraft. In this photo taken February 2, 2011, each solar array is unfurled at a Lockheed Martin Space Systems facility in Denver.

Technicians use a crane to lower Juno onto a stand where the spacecraft was loaded with fuel for its mission.

Technicians use a crane to lower Juno onto a stand where the spacecraft was loaded with fuel for its mission.

Jupiter was 445 million miles (716 million kilometers) from Earth when Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 5, 2011. But the probe traveled a total distance of 1,740 million miles (2,800 million kilometers) to reach Jupiter, making a flyby of Earth to help pick up speed.

Jupiter was 445 million miles (716 million kilometers) from Earth when Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 5, 2011. But the probe traveled a total distance of 1,740 million miles (2,800 million kilometers) to reach Jupiter, making a flyby of Earth to help pick up speed.

Three Lego figurines are flying aboard the Juno spacecraft. They represent the Roman god Jupiter; his wife, Juno; and Galileo Galilei, the scientist who discovered Jupiter's four largest moons on January 7, 1610.

Three Lego figurines are flying aboard the Juno spacecraft. They represent the Roman god Jupiter; his wife, Juno; and Galileo Galilei, the scientist who discovered Jupiter's four largest moons on January 7, 1610.

Juno made a flyby of Earth in October 2014. This trio of images was taken by the spacecraft's JunoCam.

Juno made a flyby of Earth in October 2014. This trio of images was taken by the spacecraft's JunoCam.

Jupiter and the gaseous planet's four largest moons -- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto -- are seen in a photo taken by Juno on June 21, 2016. The spacecraft was 6.8 million miles (10.9 million kilometers) from the planet.

Jupiter and the gaseous planet's four largest moons -- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto -- are seen in a photo taken by Juno on June 21, 2016. The spacecraft was 6.8 million miles (10.9 million kilometers) from the planet.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Jupiter's auroras on the poles of the gas giant. The observations were supported by measurements taken by Juno.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Jupiter's auroras on the poles of the gas giant. The observations were supported by measurements taken by Juno.

This was the final view of Jupiter taken by Juno before the on-board instruments were powered down to prepare for orbit. The image was taken June 29, 2016, while the spacecraft was 3.3 million miles (5.3 million kilometers) from Jupiter.

This was the final view of Jupiter taken by Juno before the on-board instruments were powered down to prepare for orbit. The image was taken June 29, 2016, while the spacecraft was 3.3 million miles (5.3 million kilometers) from Jupiter.

An illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft entering Jupiter's orbit. Juno will study Jupiter from a polar orbit, coming about 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) from the cloud tops of the gas giant.

An illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft entering Jupiter's orbit. Juno will study Jupiter from a polar orbit, coming about 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) from the cloud tops of the gas giant.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has sent back its first photo of Jupiter, left, since entering into orbit around the planet. The photo is made from some of the first images taken by JunoCam and shows three of the massive planet's four largest moons: from left, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has sent back its first photo of Jupiter, left, since entering into orbit around the planet. The photo is made from some of the first images taken by JunoCam and shows three of the massive planet's four largest moons: from left, Io, Europa and Ganymede.

This infrared image gives an unprecedented view of the southern aurora of Jupiter, as captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on August 27, 2016. Juno's unique polar orbit provides the first opportunity to observe this region of the gas-giant planet in detail.

This infrared image gives an unprecedented view of the southern aurora of Jupiter, as captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on August 27, 2016. Juno's unique polar orbit provides the first opportunity to observe this region of the gas-giant planet in detail.

Jupiter's north polar region comes into view as NASA's Juno spacecraft approaches the giant planet. This view of Jupiter was taken when Juno was 437,000 miles (703,000 kilometers) away during its first of 36 orbital flybys of the planet.

Jupiter's north polar region comes into view as NASA's Juno spacecraft approaches the giant planet. This view of Jupiter was taken when Juno was 437,000 miles (703,000 kilometers) away during its first of 36 orbital flybys of the planet.

This image shows Jupiter's south pole, as seen by NASA's Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). The oval features are cyclones, up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter. Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color and stereographic projection.

This image shows Jupiter's south pole, as seen by NASA's Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). The oval features are cyclones, up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter. Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color and stereographic projection.

This artist's concept shows the pole-to-pole orbits of the NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter.

This artist's concept shows the pole-to-pole orbits of the NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter.

NASA configured this comparison of its own image of Earth with an image of Jupiter taken by astronomer Christopher Go.

NASA configured this comparison of its own image of Earth with an image of Jupiter taken by astronomer Christopher Go.

Algorithmic-based scaling and coloring reveal a vivid look at the Great Red Spot in July 2017.

Algorithmic-based scaling and coloring reveal a vivid look at the Great Red Spot in July 2017.

This striking image of Jupiter was captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft as it performed its eighth flyby of the gas giant.

This striking image of Jupiter was captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft as it performed its eighth flyby of the gas giant.

This composite image, derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter, shows the central cyclone at the planet's north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it.

This composite image, derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter, shows the central cyclone at the planet's north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it.

Is that a dolphin on Jupiter? No, but it definitely looks like one. It's actually a cloud that looks like it's swimming through cloud bands along the South Temperate Belt.

Is that a dolphin on Jupiter? No, but it definitely looks like one. It's actually a cloud that looks like it's swimming through cloud bands along the South Temperate Belt.

These dramatic swirls on Jupiter are atmospheric features. Clouds swirl around a circular feature in a jet stream region.

These dramatic swirls on Jupiter are atmospheric features. Clouds swirl around a circular feature in a jet stream region.

An artist's impression of a collision between a young Jupiter and a massive, still-forming protoplanet in the early solar system.

An artist's impression of a collision between a young Jupiter and a massive, still-forming protoplanet in the early solar system.

During the flybys, observations and data showed Jupiter's previously unseen poles. Bright ovals at the poles were revealed to be gigantic cyclones spanning 870 miles. Juno was also able to probe the cloud cover and discover wells of ammonia that form giant and violent weather systems in the deep atmosphere.

But this ammonia isn't consistently mixed, like researchers believed. The variation shifts from high to low.

In the cut-out image to the right, orange signifies high ammonia abundance, and blue signifies low ammonia abundance. Jupiter appears to have a band around its equator high in ammonia abundance.

The giant cyclones at the poles are also new to researchers. Further study could reveal whether these are like the Great Red Spot, which has been observable for at least 300 years, or more ephemeral.

"We're puzzled as to how they could be formed, how stable the configuration is and why Jupiter's north pole doesn't look like the south pole," Bolton said. "We're questioning whether this is a dynamic system, and are we seeing just one stage, and over the next year, we're going to watch it disappear, or is this a stable configuration and these storms are circulating around one another?"

Imaging also revealed intriguing cloud features.

"The idea of seeing those little cloud features full of ammonia and water ice, it's like it's snowing on Jupiter and we're seeing how it works," Bolton said. Or it could be hail, he said.

A close-up of the bright clouds that dot Jupiter's south tropical zone, as seen by NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Juno revealed that Jupiter's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than the strongest magnetic field on Earth and and twice as strong as anticipated, exceeding researchers' expectations. The mission had an encounter with the planet's "bow shock," akin to a type of stationary shockwave, when exploring Jupiter's magnetosphere.

The researchers compared this bow shock to a Hadley cell on Earth, without the rain. A Hadley cell is the atmospheric circulation of air rising near the equator that creates hurricanes, jet streams, trade winds and rain belts.

"Juno is giving us a view of the magnetic field close to Jupiter that we've never had before," said Jack Connerney, Juno deputy principal investigator. "Already, we see that the magnetic field looks lumpy: It is stronger in some places and weaker in others. This uneven distribution suggests that the field might be generated by dynamo action closer to the surface, above the layer of metallic hydrogen. Every flyby we execute gets us closer to determining where and how Jupiter's dynamo works."

Juno also encountered Jupiter's huge auroras, captured in ultraviolet and infrared images, and the electron beam pushing energy into the planet's upper atmosphere, which could be creating the auroras.

A still from the animation of Jupiter's southern lights.

And Juno was able to measure Jupiter's gravitational field. Those data, combined with information to be gathered as Juno's mission continues, can help researchers determine the structure of Jupiter's atmosphere and answer the big question: Does the planet have a solid core?

Previous models have suggested this, but Juno's unique data could provide actual insight. If the planet has a solid core, it could change the belief that the gas giant is largely composed of hydrogen and helium.

Juno's gravity field data will reveal new clues about Jupiter's core.

Luckily, Juno is just getting started.

Even though Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, astronomers don't know much about its origin. The Juno mission was designed to collect data and observations that will reveal the origin and evolution of the gas giant. Its other objectives include mapping Jupiter's gravitational and magnetic fields, observing auroras, measuring the amount of water and ammonia in its atmosphere and finding evidence of a solid core.

This sequence of enhanced-color images shows how quickly the viewing geometry changes for NASA's Juno spacecraft as it swoops by Jupiter. T

The planet's cloudy atmosphere has contributed greatly to obscuring general knowledge. Juno was designed to look below those clouds at the planet underneath. This will also help astronomers determine finer points about Jupiter's composition and how much of it is water.

Jupiter was most likely the first planet to form in the solar system and contains some of the same ingredients of the collapsing nebula that formed the system. Knowing more about Jupiter can provide greater insight about its beginnings.

Given the fact that gas giants are common around other stars, this could inform future observations of exoplanets and other planetary systems.

The next flyby will happen July 11 and go directly over the Great Red Spot.

"If anybody is going to get to the bottom of what is going on below those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops, it's Juno and her cloud-piercing science instruments," Bolton said.</s>Beneath its heavy cloud cover, Jupiter has been able to keep its secrets from astronomers. Now, first results from NASA’s Juno mission are challenging researchers’ beliefs about the gas giant.

The results were revealed during a media teleconference Thursday with NASA researchers and published in corresponding studies through the journal Science and Geophysical Research Letters.

Juno launched in August 2011 but didn’t arrive at Jupiter until July. The craft has been orbiting the planet and performing calculated flybys over the clouds.

During those flybys, observations and data showed Jupiter’s previously unseen poles. Bright ovals at the poles were revealed to be gigantic cyclones spanning 870 miles. Juno was also able to probe the cloud cover and discover wells of ammonia that form giant and violent weather systems in the deep atmosphere.

Juno revealed that Jupiter’s magnetic field is 10 times that of Earth’s and and twice as strong as anticipated, exceeding researchers’ expectations. The mission had an encounter with the planet’s “bow shock,” akin to a type of stationary shockwave, when exploring Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

The researchers compared this bow shock to a Hadley cell on Earth, without the rain. A Hadley cell is the atmospheric circulation of air rising near the equator that creates hurricanes, jet streams, trade winds and rain belts.

Juno also encountered Jupiter’s huge auroras, captured in ultraviolet and infrared images, and the electron beam pushing energy into the planet’s upper atmosphere, which could be creating the auroras.

And Juno was able to measure Jupiter’s gravitational field. That data, combined with information to be gathered as Juno’s mission continues, can help researchers determine the structure of Jupiter’s atmosphere and answer the big question: Does the planet have a solid core?

Previous models have suggested this, but Juno’s unique data could provide actual insight. If the planet has a solid core, it could change the belief that the gas giant is largely composed of hydrogen and helium.

Luckily, Juno is just getting started.

Even though Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, astronomers don’t know much about its origin. The Juno mission was designed to collect data and observations that will reveal the origin and evolution of the gas giant. Its other objectives include mapping Jupiter’s gravitational and magnetic fields, observing auroras, measuring the amount of water and ammonia in its atmosphere and finding evidence of a solid core.

The planet’s cloudy atmosphere has contributed greatly to obscuring general knowledge. Juno was designed to dip below those clouds to look at the planet underneath. This will also help astronomers determine finer points about Jupiter’s composition and how much of it is water.

Jupiter was most likely the first planet to form in the solar system and contains some of the same ingredients of the collapsing nebula that formed the system. Knowing more about Jupiter can provide greater insight about its beginnings.

Given the fact that gas giants are common around other stars, this could inform future observations of exoplanets and other planetary systems.</s>A NASA mission to Jupiter that reached the planet last year has changed the way scientists view the largest planet in the solar system, showing polar cyclones the size of Earth and a giant "lumpy" magnetic field.

The Juno mission, which reached Jupiter after a five-year trek, provides a new perspective on the fifth planet which scientists have struggled to study because of its cloud cover. Juno's advantage relies on an orbit that allows it to come within 3,100 miles (5,000 km) of the planet's cloud tops.

“We knew, going in, that Jupiter would throw us some curves,” said Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio in press release. “But now that we are here we are finding that Jupiter can throw the heat, as well as knuckleballs and sliders. There is so much going on here that we didn’t expect that we have had to take a step back and begin to rethink of this as a whole new Jupiter.”

Scientists published the results in two studies in the journal Science and 44 papers in the journal Geophysical Research Letters . Results will come as the Juno probe continues to complete orbits every 53 days.</s>This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Ten months after its nerve-wracking arrival at Jupiter, NASA’s Juno mission has started to deliver—forcing scientists to reevaluate what they thought they knew about the giant planet. The first findings from Juno, published in Science, indicate that many aspects of Jupiter have defied expectation—including the strength of its magnetic field, the shape of its core, the distribution of ammonia gas and the weather at its poles. It certainly makes this an exciting time to be a Jupiter scientist.

Juno arrived at Jupiter in July 2016, and began a long, looping first orbit that took it far out from the planet before zipping back in for its first scientific close-up (perijove) on August 27. It is this fleeting meeting that the new studies are based on. Today, despite initial problems with Juno’s engine and spacecraft software, the mission has settled into a regular pattern of close perijoves every 53.5 days—the sixth such flyby happened on May 19, the seventh will be on July 11.

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One of Juno’s key strengths is its ability to peer through the overlying shroud of clouds to study the gases below, such as the cloud-forming substance ammonia. Flows of ammonia help form Jupiter’s distinctive features. The gas was expected to be well mixed, or drenched, below the topmost clouds. That idea has been turned on its head—the ammonia concentration is much less than expected.

Intriguingly, much of the ammonia is concentrated into an equatorial plume, rising from the depths of Jupiter to the cloud-tops due to some powerful up-welling force. Scientists are likening this to Earth’s Hadley cell, with plumes dredging ammonia up from hundreds of kilometres below.

We’ve known that ammonia is enhanced at Jupiter’s equator for some time, but we never knew how deep this column went. However, it’s important to remember that this is only one location on Jupiter, and that Earth-based infrared observations suggest that the plume may not be this strong elsewhere around Jupiter’s equator, but could be patchy. Only with more perijove passes will we begin to understand the strange dynamics of Jupiter’s tropics.

We’ve never been able to see this deep before, so even the first observations from Juno’s microwave instrument provide a treasure trove of new insights. These show that the banded structure that we see at the surface is really just the tip of the iceberg —Jupiter exhibits banding all the way down to 350km (217 miles). This is much deeper than what we’ve generally thought of as Jupiter’s “weather layer” in the upper few tens of kilometres. What’s more, that structure isn’t the same all the way down—it varies with depth, indicating a large, complex circulation pattern.

The surprises didn’t stop here. Juno can probe even deeper into the planet by monitoring small tweaks to the spacecraft’s orbit by the gravity field of Jupiter’s interior. Ultimately, these will be used to assess Jupiter’s core, although that cannot be done from a single perijove pass. Most scientists believe that the planet has a dense core made up of around ten Earth masses of heavy elements and occupying a small fraction of the radius. But the new measurements are inconsistent with any previous model—possibly hinting at a “fluffy” core dispersed out to half of Jupiter’s radius.

Indeed, Jupiter’s interior appears to be anything but uniform. We have to remember that scientists have spent years developing models of the interior of Jupiter based on sparse data taken from great distances—Juno is now testing these models to the extreme because it is flying so close.

Jupiter has the most intense planetary magnetic field in the solar system, causing a pile-up where the solar wind is slowed down (known as the bow shock). Juno first passed through this region and into the Jovian magnetosphere on June 24. At its closest approach, the strength of Jupiter’s magnetic field was twice as strong as any model had predicted and much more irregular.

That’s important, because it suggests that the magnetic field could be generated at shallower depths than expected, above the “metallic hydrogen” layer that is thought to exist at very high pressures. If proven, this has substantial implications for studies of magnetic fields at all of the giant planets. Perhaps the Cassini mission will be able to confirm whether this is the case as it makes its final measurements of Saturn’s magnetic field before it crashes into the planet in September.

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to see Jupiter through a telescope, you’ll be familiar with the organised, striped structure of whiter zones and dark brown belts. These colourful bands are bordered by powerful jet streams whizzing east and west around the planet. On Saturn, this organized, banded structure persists all the way to the poles, with one jet showing a strange hexagonal wave pattern encircling a hurricane-like polar cyclone. But Jupiter’s poles are different. Gone is the organized structure of jets. There’s no evidence for hexagons or anything like it. And instead of one cyclone, we see multitudes, surrounded by a whole host of chaotic and turbulent features.

With the ability to see structures as small as 50km (31 miles), Juno’s camera has revealed numerous bright cyclones of a variety of appearances—some appear sharp, some have clear spirals, some are fluffy and diffuse, and the largest is some 1,400km ( 870 miles) across. That’s about the same distance between London and Majorca. These bright storms sit on top of dark clouds, giving the appearance of “floating” on a dark sea, and it will be some time before we understand the lifetimes and motions of these storms.

You might imagine that, faced with throwing out models that have taken careers to develop, scientists might be a little glum. But the exact opposite is true. A mission like Juno, accessing regions that no robotic spacecraft has ever probed before, is designed to test the models to the extreme. If they break, then the search to find the missing pieces of the puzzle will provide deeper insights into the physics of the Jovian system. All these surprises have come from just the first perijove encounter, and I’m sure there are plenty more revelations to come.

Leigh Fletcher is a Royal Society Research Fellow at the University of Leicester</s>(CNN) Beneath its heavy cloud cover, Jupiter has been able to keep its secrets from astronomers. Now, first results from NASA's Juno mission are challenging researchers' beliefs about the gas giant.

The results were revealed during a media teleconference Thursday with NASA researchers and published in corresponding studies through the journal Science and Geophysical Research Letters

Juno launched in August 2011 but didn't arrive at Jupiter until July . The craft has been orbiting the planet and performing calculated flybys over the clouds. These happen every 53 days as Juno "screams by" Jupiter, going from the north to south pole in about two hours.

"The general theme of our discoveries is really how different Jupiter looked from how we expected," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "This is a close-up and personal look at Jupiter. We thought it was uniform inside and relatively boring. What we're finding is anything but that. It's very complex. Jupiter from the poles doesn't look anything like it does from our usual view."

During the flybys, observations and data showed Jupiter's previously unseen poles. Bright ovals at the poles were revealed to be gigantic cyclones spanning 870 miles. Juno was also able to probe the cloud cover and discover wells of ammonia that form giant and violent weather systems in the deep atmosphere.

The giant cyclones at the poles are also new to researchers. Further study could reveal whether these are like the Great Red Spot, which has been observable for at least 300 years, or more ephemeral.

"We're puzzled as to how they could be formed, how stable the configuration is and why Jupiter's north pole doesn't look like the south pole," Bolton said. "We're questioning whether this is a dynamic system, and are we seeing just one stage, and over the next year, we're going to watch it disappear, or is this a stable configuration and these storms are circulating around one another?"

"The idea of seeing those little cloud features full of ammonia and water ice, it's like it's snowing on Jupiter and we're seeing how it works," Bolton said. Or it could be hail, he said.

Juno revealed that Jupiter's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than the strongest magnetic field on Earth and and twice as strong as anticipated, exceeding researchers' expectations. The mission had an encounter with the planet's "bow shock," akin to a type of stationary shockwave, when exploring Jupiter's magnetosphere.

The researchers compared this bow shock to a Hadley cell on Earth, without the rain. A Hadley cell is the atmospheric circulation of air rising near the equator that creates hurricanes, jet streams, trade winds and rain belts.

"Juno is giving us a view of the magnetic field close to Jupiter that we've never had before," said Jack Connerney, Juno deputy principal investigator. "Already, we see that the magnetic field looks lumpy: It is stronger in some places and weaker in others. This uneven distribution suggests that the field might be generated by dynamo action closer to the surface, above the layer of metallic hydrogen. Every flyby we execute gets us closer to determining where and how Jupiter's dynamo works."

And Juno was able to measure Jupiter's gravitational field. Those data, combined with information to be gathered as Juno's mission continues, can help researchers determine the structure of Jupiter's atmosphere and answer the big question: Does the planet have a solid core?

Previous models have suggested this, but Juno's unique data could provide actual insight. If the planet has a solid core, it could change the belief that the gas giant is largely composed of hydrogen and helium.

Even though Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, astronomers don't know much about its origin. The Juno mission was designed to collect data and observations that will reveal the origin and evolution of the gas giant. Its other objectives include mapping Jupiter's gravitational and magnetic fields, observing auroras, measuring the amount of water and ammonia in its atmosphere and finding evidence of a solid core.

The planet's cloudy atmosphere has contributed greatly to obscuring general knowledge. Juno was designed to dip below those clouds to look at the planet underneath. This will also help astronomers determine finer points about Jupiter's composition and how much of it is water.

Jupiter was most likely the first planet to form in the solar system and contains some of the same ingredients of the collapsing nebula that formed the system. Knowing more about Jupiter can provide greater insight about its beginnings.

"If anybody is going to get to the bottom of what is going on below those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops, it's Juno and her cloud-piercing science instruments," Bolton said.</s>(CN) – Early results from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter reveal Earth-sized polar cyclones, a “fuzzy” core and a massive, irregularly shaped magnetic field – all of which challenge previously held theories on the solar system’s largest planet.

The findings are detailed in more than 40 papers discussing the surprising data from NASA’s mission to Jupiter, which reveal greater complexity and variability than scientists had expected.

“It was a long trip to get to Jupiter, but these first results already demonstrate it was well worth the journey,” said Diane Brown, Juno program executive at NASA.

Launched Aug. 5, 2011, from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, Juno made a gravity-assist flyby of Earth in October 2013 to generate enough speed to complete its roundabout 1.7-billion-mile voyage to Jupiter. The spacecraft successfully braked into a highly elliptical orbit around the gas giant in April 2016.

The information retrieved during Juno’s first data-collection pass on Aug. 27 – when the spacecraft flew within 2,600 miles of Jupiter’s swirling cloud tops – will likely fuel considerable speculation and analysis of the planet as scientists await data from subsequent passes.

“We knew going in that Jupiter would throw us some curves,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “But now that we are here we are finding that Jupiter can throw the heat, as well as knuckleballs and sliders. There is so much going on here that we didn’t expect that we have had to take a step back and begin to rethink of this as a whole new Jupiter.”

Among the surprising discoveries provided by Juno are Earth-sized swirling storms that cover both of Jupiter’s poles.

“We’re puzzled as to how they could be formed, how stable the configuration is, and why Jupiter’s north pole doesn’t look like the south pole,” Bolton said. “We’re questioning whether this is a dynamic system, and are we seeing just one stage and over the next year we’re going to watch it disappear, or is this a stable configuration and these storms are circulating around one another?”

Data from the Aug. 27, 2016, pass also show that Jupiter’s iconic belts and zones are unique and mysterious, with the belt near the equator spanning through the planet’s atmosphere, while the belts and zones at other latitudes seem to lead to other structures. The information suggests the ammonia in the gas giant’s atmosphere varies and continues to increase as far down as could be seen by Juno’s microwave radiometer, which is a few hundred miles.

While scientists knew Jupiter features the most intense magnetic field in the solar system, measurements of the planet’s magnetosphere indicate that it is even stronger than models predicted – and more irregular in shape. The data show that the magnetic field is about 10 times stronger than the strongest magnetic field found on Earth.

“Juno is giving us a view of the magnetic field close to Jupiter that we’ve never had before,” said Jack Connerney, Juno deputy principal investigator. “Already we see that the magnetic field looks lumpy; it is stronger in some places and weaker in others. This uneven distribution suggests that the field might be generated by dynamo action closer to the surface, above the layer of metallic hydrogen. Every flyby we execute gets us closer to determining where and how Jupiter’s dynamo works.”

Another question Juno is supposed to help answer is whether it has a core. Scientists have presented competing theories, which range from Jupiter having a small, compact core roughly the size of Earth, to the gas giant having formed without a core entirely. The data suggest the presence of a non-discrete, “fuzzy” core. Researchers say more information is needed to develop a precise understanding of the planet’s center.

As the scientific community digests the first results from Juno, further missions will likely add to the revelations described Thursday.

“Every 53 days, we go screaming by Jupiter, get doused by a fire hose of Jovian science, and there is always something new,” Bolton said. “On our next flyby on July 11, we will fly directly over one of the most iconic features in the entire solar system – one that every school kid knows – Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

“If anybody is going to get to the bottom of what is going on below those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops, it’s Juno and her cloud-piercing science instruments.”</s>Jupiter's south pole, as seen by NASA's Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers) (AFP Photo/)

Miami (AFP) - An unmanned NASA spaceship circling Jupiter has spotted massive cyclones at the gas giant's poles, revealing stunning new details about our solar system's largest planet, researchers said Thursday.

A NASA statement described the planet as "a complex, gigantic, turbulent world" that is far different than scientists previously thought.

Two papers in the journal Science and 44 papers in Geophysical Research Letters describe a trove of discoveries made since Juno began orbiting Jupiter last year.

"We knew, going in, that Jupiter would throw us some curves," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

"There is so much going on here that we didn't expect that we have had to take a step back and begin to rethink of this as a whole new Jupiter."

A look at Jupiter's poles has shown they are covered with dozens of densely clustered storms, possibly dropping hail or snow.

"Images of Jupiter's previously-unseen poles show a chaotic scene of bright oval features," said one of the studies in the journal Science.

These ovals, it turns out, are huge swirling storms, some of which measure up to 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) across.

Researchers found "signs of ammonia welling up from the deep atmosphere and forming giant weather systems."

Now, more study is needed to better understand the nature of Jupiter's storms, and why the planet acts this way.

The solar-powered Juno spacecraft launched in 2011, and made its first tour around Jupiter on August 27, 2016.

Juno moves in an elliptical orbit, skimming within 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) of Jupiter's cloud tops and passing over the poles.

Juno's mission is scheduled to end in February 2018, when the probe will self-destruct by diving into the planet's atmosphere.

The $1.1 billion project aims to peer beneath the clouds around Jupiter for the first time to learn more about the planet's atmosphere and how much water the planet contains.

"On our next flyby on July 11, we will fly directly over one of the most iconic features in the entire solar system -- one that every school kid knows -- Jupiter's Great Red Spot," said Bolton.

"If anybody is going to get to the bottom of what is going on below those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops, it's Juno and her cloud-piercing science instruments."

Juno has also taken measurements of Jupiter's gravitational field, to see if it has a solid core, as some models have predicted, or no core at all.

Instead, researchers found that the core is "fuzzy," -- neither a small compact core nor a non-existent core.

Bolton said the core may be partially dissolved, and is certainly much larger than anybody had anticipated.

Even before Juno launched, researchers knew Jupiter had the most intense magnetic field in the solar system.

But now, astronomers see that it is "substantially stronger than models predicted, at 7.766 Gauss, or roughly ten times Earth's magnetic field," said the study.

According to Jack Connerney, Juno deputy principal investigator and the lead for the mission's magnetic field investigation at NASA, the "magnetic field looks lumpy.

"It is stronger in some places and weaker in others," he said.

"Every flyby we execute gets us closer to determining where and how Jupiter's dynamo works."</s>NASA is learning some of the secrets of the largest planet in the solar system, revealing data Thursday from the space agency’s Juno mission to Jupiter.

Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun, is a gas giant with an atmosphere mainly composed of helium and hydrogen, and characterized by towering clouds of ammonia and turbulent storms, including one that has raged for hundreds of years and is larger than Earth, known as the Great Red Spot.

With the initial scientific information from Juno, researchers are realizing the planet is even more complex than scientists imagined.

The spacecraft’s camera, called the JunoCam, recorded images of Jupiter’s north and south poles that show colossus, swirling Earth-sized storms, knocking into each other as they rocket around the top and bottom of the planet. The storms covering the north pole are very different from those in the south, though.

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“We’re puzzled as to how they could be formed, how stable the configuration is, and why Jupiter’s north pole doesn’t look like the south pole,” Juno’s principal investigator Scott Bolton said in a briefing about the new data.

Bolton said it’s also unclear whether these are permanent storms at the poles.

“We’re questioning whether this is a dynamic system, and are we seeing just one stage, and over the next year, we’re going to watch it disappear, or is this a stable configuration and these storms are circulating around one another,” Bolton said.

Juno has also revealed new information about the planet’s irregular and lumpy magnetic field and its gaseous atmosphere.

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Researchers are hoping to learn more about the Giant Red Spot, too, one of the “most iconic features in the entire solar system.

“If anybody is going to get to the bottom of what is going on below those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops, it’s Juno and her cloud-piercing science instruments,” Bolton predicted.

The Juno spacecraft launched on Aug. 5, 2011, and entered Jupiter’s orbit last summer on July 4.

The results from Thursday’s briefing were collected in a Juno fly-by last August when the craft was within 2,600 miles of Jupiter’s cloud tops, NASA said.</s>New Delhi: NASA's Juno mission has completed a fruitful 10-month-long journey in Jupiter's orbit and in this short while, the spacecraft has proven that the 5-year wait for it to nestle itself into the giant planet's orbit wasn't in vain.

Ever since, Juno has been beaming back some amazing data on the planet as well as giving space enthusiasts spectacular visual treats from time to time.

This time, however, Juno has delivered its first science results which represent the solar system's largest planet as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world, with Earth-sized polar cyclones, plunging storm systems that travel deep into the heart of the gas giant, and a mammoth, lumpy magnetic field that may indicate it was generated closer to the planet’s surface than previously thought.

“We are excited to share these early discoveries, which help us better understand what makes Jupiter so fascinating,” said Diane Brown, Juno program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It was a long trip to get to Jupiter, but these first results already demonstrate it was well worth the journey,” NASA reported.

From 2011 to 2016 – from the year Juno was launched, till the time it entered Jupiter's orbit – the findings from the first data-collection pass, which flew within about 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) of Jupiter's swirling cloud tops on August 27, are being published this week in two papers in the journal Science, as well as 44 papers in Geophysical Research Letters.

“We knew, going in, that Jupiter would throw us some curves,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “But now that we are here we are finding that Jupiter can throw the heat, as well as knuckleballs and sliders. There is so much going on here that we didn’t expect that we have had to take a step back and begin to rethink of this as a whole new Jupiter.”

The images captured by Juno's trusty imager, JunoCam, has also changed scientists' assumptions by showing how both of Jupiter's poles are covered in Earth-sized swirling storms that are densely clustered and rubbing together.

“We're puzzled as to how they could be formed, how stable the configuration is, and why Jupiter’s north pole doesn't look like the south pole,” said Bolton. “We're questioning whether this is a dynamic system, and are we seeing just one stage, and over the next year, we're going to watch it disappear, or is this a stable configuration and these storms are circulating around one another?” NASA said.

According to the US space agency, Another surprise comes from Juno’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR), which samples the thermal microwave radiation from Jupiter’s atmosphere, from the top of the ammonia clouds to deep within its atmosphere. The MWR data indicates that Jupiter’s iconic belts and zones are mysterious, with the belt near the equator penetrating all the way down, while the belts and zones at other latitudes seem to evolve to other structures. The data suggest the ammonia is quite variable and continues to increase as far down as we can see with MWR, which is a few hundred miles or kilometers.

Prior to the Juno mission, it was known that Jupiter had the most intense magnetic field in the solar system. Measurements of the massive planet’s magnetosphere, from Juno’s magnetometer investigation (MAG), indicate that Jupiter’s magnetic field is even stronger than models expected, and more irregular in shape. MAG data indicates the magnetic field greatly exceeded expectations at 7.766 Gauss, about 10 times stronger than the strongest magnetic field found on Earth.

Juno is in a polar orbit around Jupiter, and the majority of each orbit is spent well away from the gas giant. But, once every 53 days, its trajectory approaches Jupiter from above its north pole, where it begins a two-hour transit (from pole to pole) flying north to south with its eight science instruments collecting data and its JunoCam public outreach camera snapping pictures. The download of six megabytes of data collected during the transit can take 1.5 days.

“Every 53 days, we go screaming by Jupiter, get doused by a fire hose of Jovian science, and there is always something new,” said Bolton. “On our next flyby on July 11, we will fly directly over one of the most iconic features in the entire solar system – one that every school kid knows – Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. If anybody is going to get to the bottom of what is going on below those mammoth swirling crimson cloud tops, it’s Juno and her cloud-piercing science instruments,” the NASA report said.</s>Monstrous cyclones are churning over Jupiter’s poles, until now a largely unexplored region.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft spotted the chaotic weather once it began skimming Jupiter’s cloud tops last year, surprising scientists who assumed the giant gas planet would be relatively boring and uniform down low.

“What we’re finding is anything but that is the truth. It’s very different, very complex,” Southwest Research Institute’s Scott Bolton, Juno’s chief scientist, said Thursday.

With dozens of cyclones hundreds of miles across — alongside unidentifiable weather systems stretching thousands of miles — the poles look nothing like Jupiter’s equatorial region, instantly recognizable by its stripes and Great Red Spot, a raging hurricane-like storm.

“That’s the Jupiter we’ve all known and grown to love,” Bolton told reporters. “And when you look from the pole, it looks totally different ... I don’t think anybody would have guessed this is Jupiter.”

He calls these first major findings — published Thursday — “Earth-shattering. Or should I say, Jupiter-shattering.”

Turning counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere just like on Earth, the cyclones are clearly clustered near the poles. The diameters of some of these cyclones stretch 1,400 km. Even bigger, though shapeless weather systems — spanning many thousands of miles — are present in both polar regions.

Launched in 2011 and orbiting Jupiter since last summer, Juno is providing the best close-up views ever of our solar system’s largest planet. Besides polar cyclones, Juno has detected an overwhelming abundance of ammonia in Jupiter’s deep atmosphere and a surprisingly strong magnetic field — roughly 10 times greater than Earth’s.

“The results from Juno’s initial close passes of Jupiter are changing our understanding of this gas giant,” the researchers wrote in one of two articles that appeared in the journal Science.

Jupiter’s poles appear dramatically different from neighbouring Saturn’s, according to the scientists, with nothing like the hexagon-shaped cloud system over Saturn’s north pole.

Researchers hope to compare Juno’s observations with those of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, in its final months orbiting Saturn.
Results of the Juno mission are announced by NASA researchers, revealing new and unexpected information concerning Jupiter's poles, meteorology, and magnetic and gravitational fields.