Prospects for Jovian seismology with the Lenghu planetary telescope

Abstract

Jupiter is one of the top priorities for deep space exploration in China and other countries. The structure of Jupiter’s interior, in particular, is a crucial but still unclear scientific topic. This paper discusses current scientific understanding of Jupiter’s interior by summarizing the history of past and current exploration and data analysis. We review recent space-based and ground-based observation methods and analyze their feasibility. To gain new insight into the internal structure of Jupiter, we propose to study Jupiter’s innards by planetary seismology. Ground-based observation, namely the Jupiter Seismologic Interferometer Polarization Imager (SIPI) in Lenghu, will be developed to obtain the Doppler velocity distribution on the surface of Jupiter and identify oscillation signals. Lenghu has observation conditions that are not only exceptional in China but even in the world, capable of providing novel insight into the interior of Jupiter. This will also be the first study in China of the interior of Jupiter using asteroseismology, which has significant implications for China’s plans to explore Jupiter via spacecraft-mounted instruments.

Keywords

• jupiter seismology
• jupiter’s interior
• jupiter model
• jupiter seismologic interferometer polarization imager (sipi)