Geophysical Research Letters (Feb 2020)

Jupiter's Gravity Field Halfway Through the Juno Mission

  • D. Durante,
  • M. Parisi,
  • D. Serra,
  • M. Zannoni,
  • V. Notaro,
  • P. Racioppa,
  • D. R. Buccino,
  • G. Lari,
  • L. Gomez Casajus,
  • L. Iess,
  • W. M. Folkner,
  • G. Tommei,
  • P. Tortora,
  • S. J. Bolton

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086572
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 47, no. 4
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract The Juno spacecraft reached the mid‐point of its nominal mission in December 2018, after completing 17 perijove passes. Ten of these were dedicated to the determination of the gravity field of the planet, with the aim of constraining its interior structure. We provide an update on Jupiter's gravity field, its tidal response and spin axis motion over time. The analysis of the Doppler data collected during the perijove passes hints to a non‐static and/or non‐axially symmetric field, possibly related to several different physical mechanisms, such as normal modes or localized atmospheric or deeply‐rooted dynamics.