Jupiter, the largest planet within our Solar System, has been found to be slightly smaller and more flattened than scientific consensus held for the preceding fifty years. Based on novel, more precise calculations, the equatorial radius of Jupiter is 4 kilometers less, and the planet is dimensionally flatter at its poles by 12 kilometers than previously estimated. This conclusion was reached by an international research team led by the Weizmann Institute (Israel), following an analysis of telemetry gathered by NASA’s Juno space probe. The findings, detailed in the journal Nature Astronomy, serve to refine the parameters of the gas giant, parameters that had stood firm since the Voyager and Pioneer missions of the 1970s.
Under the scope of the revised figures, Jupiter’s equatorial radius clocks in at 71,488 kilometers, while its polar radius measures 66,842 kilometers.
To arrive at these figures, researchers employed a radio signal analysis technique: as Juno traversed behind the planet, Jupiter’s atmosphere caused distortions in the radio waves transmitted back to Earth. By processing these signal variations, doctoral student Maria Smirnova was able to calculate, with unprecedented accuracy, the density of the gas at varying distances from the planet’s core. According to Professor Yohai Kaspi, this data is crucial for comprehending the broader evolution of the entire Solar System, given that Jupiter, being the most massive object present, very likely formed first, immediately subsequent to the Sun itself.
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