AkaSci 🛰️May 15, 2024

Juno snapped these images of Jupiter and its tiny moon Amalthea during its 59th Perijove on Mar 7, 2024, from an altitude of 265,000 km.

Amalthea, 250 × 146 × 128 km in size, is Jupiter's 5th largest moon. It is one of 4 small moons that orbit inside of Io's orbit.

The odd-shaped moon is believed to consist of a loose rubble of rocks and ice.

With a ~12h period, Amalthea is tidally locked to Jupiter, so the same side faces the giant planet.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-juno-mission-spots-jupiters-tiny-moon-amalthea/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/featherweight-jupiter-moon-is-likely-a-jumble-of-pieces
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NASA’s Juno Mission Spots Jupiter’s Tiny Moon Amalthea - NASA

NASA’s Juno mission captured these views of Jupiter during its 59th close flyby of the giant planet on March 7, 2024. They provide a good look at Jupiter’s

NASA
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Jupiter's moon Amalthea was imaged up close by the NASA Galileo spacecraft in 1997-1999. Galileo had a much more powerful telescopic camera than Juno.

The 1st set of 4 images was taken between Feb and June 1997. The 2 images on the left highlight the topography of the surface. The 2 images on the right emphasize the presence of surface materials based on their brightness.

The 2nd set of 2 images was taken in Aug and Nov 1999. They show impact craters and the linear "streak" named Ida.

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May 15, 2024 at 12:45pmWeb
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 15, 2024

Dust from Jupiter's 4 inner moons are responsible for the rings of Jupiter, as shown in the graphic below.

Amalthea and its companion Thebe supply the dust which forms the thicker, disk-like "gossamer" ring. Dust is ejected into the rings as a result of impacts by small meteoroids into these small, low-gravity moons.

Amalthea orbits ~109,000 km above Jupiter's surface and has a period of about 12 hours.

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01627
#Jupiter #Amalthea
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Catalog Page for PIA01627

Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 15, 2024

This composite color view shows Jupiter's moons Io and Amalthea on the same scale.

The images were taken by the NASA Galileo spacecraft in 1997-1998.

#Amalthea is the reddest object in the solar system. Its color is caused by volcanic materials escaping from Io.

It radiates more heat than it receives from the Sun, likely due to electric currents induced in the moon’s core by Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field and due to tidal stresses caused by Jupiter’s gravity.

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01626
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Catalog Page for PIA01626