Image Credit: NASA
Of course, one of the things NASA had to pass to get where it is now is Jupiter’s magnetosphere. This is the orb of magnetic activity that surrounds the planet, and it's several times larger than the actual planet itself.
"If Jupiter's magnetosphere glowed in visible light, it would be twice the size of the full moon as seen from Earth," said William Kurth of the University of Iowa.
The Juno spacecraft broke this massive barrier on June 25th, and NASA shared an eerie audio clip on YouTube that shows off just what Jupiter’s magnetic field sounds like.
The sounds were captured by Juno’s Saves instrument on June 24th just before entering the planet’s magnetosphere, which is basically a device that can measure radio waves and plasma waves in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
The sound you are about to hear is known as “Bow Shock,” which is when the supersonic solar wind from the Sun is slowed down and heated simultaneously by magnetic field of the planet, which creates sounds that are similar to sonic booms here on Earth.
This is just a small tip of the iceberg of what NASA expects to observe as Juno gets closer to Jupiter and begins to tango with the planet. Later today, NASA will attempt to fire Juno’s booster rockets to help the spacecraft into a stable orbit.
It won’t be easy, as Jupiter has a very strong gravitational pull and is always slinging rocks and other space junk away that could pose a threat to the satellite.
NASA will stream the event live on NASA TV, which you can watch below:
Source: NASA
