{"id":34784,"date":"2011-02-09T15:56:18","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T20:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fredbortz.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=34784"},"modified":"2011-07-12T22:34:40","modified_gmt":"2011-07-12T22:34:40","slug":"europa-serves-as-guide-star-for-keck-adaptive-optics-view-of-jupiter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/fredbortz\/34784\/europa-serves-as-guide-star-for-keck-adaptive-optics-view-of-jupiter\/","title":{"rendered":"Europa serves as guide star for Keck adaptive optics view of Jupiter"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my greatest writing pleasures has been getting to know Heidi Hammel when I wrote her biography, Beyond Jupiter<\/em><\/A> for the Joseph Henry Press “Women’s Adventures in Science” series. Among the many things we have discussed is the advance in imaging made possible by adaptive optics, which enables the Keck telescope (and others) to correct for atmospheric distortions.
\n<\/p>\n

Adaptive optics uses an artificial “guide star” projected by a laser to measure atmospheric distortion in real-time and thus correct for it. However, an object as large and bright as Jupiter normally overwhelms the artificial star. Fortunately, there are times when Jupiter’s bright ice-covered moon Europa can serve that purpose instead.<\/p>\n

That’s why I find the following news release fascinating, not only for the data it describes but also for the use of Europa as an adaptive-imaging guide star.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Fred Bortz<\/A><\/p>\n

February 9, 2011<\/p>\n

Media Contact:
\nLarry O\u2019Hanlon
\nKeck Communications
\n+1 505-301-9003
\nlohanlon@keck.hawaii.edu<\/p>\n

** Additional contacts appear below. **<\/p>\n

Text & Images:
\nhttp:\/\/keckobservatory.org\/news\/europa_helps_astronomers_penetrate_jupiters_lost_belt\/<\/A><\/p>\n

EUROPA HELPS ASTRONOMERS PEER INSIDE JUPITER\u2019S MISSING BELT<\/p>\n

The ongoing turmoil inside Jupiter\u2019s missing — and slowly re-emerging
\n— South Equatorial Belt can now be seen in unprecedented detail
\nthanks to the Keck II telescope\u2019s adaptive optics system and the
\ncooperation of the icy Jovian moon Europa. In this newly released Keck
\nimage, the gas giant is shown as it looks in thermal infrared (IR)
\nlight, at a wavelength of nearly 5 microns (shown in bright red and
\nyellow), overlaid on a composite image of three shorter, near-infrared
\nbands (1.21, 1.58, and 1.65 microns).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thermal IR senses breaks in the cloud cover,\u201d said astronomer
\nMike Wong of the University of California at Berkeley. The thermal IR
\ndata is essentially showing heat from Jupiter\u2019s interior being
\nradiated into space. The three other IR bands, in contrast, capture
\nreflected sunlight. Put them all together and compare them to visible
\nlight images and scientists get a picture of a thinning, breaking
\nlayer of high, bright, icy clouds that have obscured the brown-red
\nSouth Equatorial Belt (SEB) for about a year, making it look like a
\nwide white zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see wispy cloud-free regions at 5 microns in the SEB,\u201d said Wong,
\n\u201cBut they are much less extensive than the near-infrared dark regions
\nsurrounding them. The data show that the change from zone-like to
\nbelt-like appearance is a complex process that takes place at
\ndifferent speeds in each layer of Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four-band infrared image was created using a clever twist on the
\nKeck II telescope\u2019s adaptive optics, which effectively cancels out
\nmuch of the interference of Earth\u2019s atmosphere. Normally astronomers
\nuse a powerful laser to create an artificial guide star. With that
\nthey can monitor Earth\u2019s constantly changing atmosphere and cancel out
\nthe distortions at a rate of up to 2,000 times per second.<\/p>\n

But Jupiter is so bright that it hides the laser guide star. The
\nastronomers needed something much brighter that was also very close to
\nJupiter in the sky. On November 30, 2010, the icy Jovian moon Europa
\nwas positioned just right to serve that purpose, explained Franck
\nMarchis, also of UC Berkeley and the SETI Institute.<\/p>\n

Timing observations right so that Europa makes adaptive optics
\npossible is no easy feat , according to Marchis, and underscores the
\ntechnical challenges involved in peering into Jupiter\u2019s clouds.
\nDespite many other researchers watching Jupiter\u2019s changing clouds with
\nother telescopes, none, not even the Hubble Space Telescope, is
\nequipped to peer in the 5-micron band with such high resolution.
\nMarchis, Wong, and UC Berkeley astronomer Imke de Pater are involved
\nin a large monitoring program aimed at following up on these rare and
\nmysterious happenings in Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere. They were assisted in
\ntheir Keck II observations by W. M. Keck Observatory support
\nastronomer Randy Campbell.<\/p>\n

Science Contacts:
\nMike Wong
\nUniv. of Calif., Berkeley
\n+1 510-207-2236
\nmikewong@astro.berkeley.edu<\/p>\n

Franck Marchis
\nUniv. of Calif., Berkeley \/ SETI Institute
\n+1 510-599-0604
\nfmarchis@berkeley.edu<\/p>\n

Randy Campbell
\nKeck Adaptive Optics
\n+1 808-881-3867
\nrandyc@keck.hawaii.edu<\/p>\n

Earlier release on Jupiter\u2019s changing cloud belt:
\nhttp:\/\/keckobservatory.org\/news\/observations_of_jupiter_reveal_rare_signatures_of_weather\/<\/A><\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

The W. M. Keck Observatory (http:\/\/keckobservatory.org\/<\/A>) operates two
\n10-meter optical\/infrared telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea. The
\ntwin telescopes feature a suite of advanced instruments including
\nimagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs,
\nintegral-field spectroscopy, and a world-leading laser guide star
\nadaptive optics system. The Observatory is a private 501(c)3
\norganization and a scientific partnership of the California Institute
\nof Technology, the University of California, and NASA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my greatest writing pleasures has been getting to know Heidi Hammel when I wrote her biography, Beyond Jupiter for the Joseph Henry Press “Women’s Adventures in Science” series. Among the many things we have discussed is the advance in imaging made possible by adaptive optics, which enables the Keck telescope (and others) to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-planetary-science","category-space-and-astronomy"],"yoast_head":"\nEuropa serves as guide star for Keck adaptive optics view of Jupiter - Fred Bortz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/fredbortz\/34784\/europa-serves-as-guide-star-for-keck-adaptive-optics-view-of-jupiter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Europa serves as guide star for Keck adaptive optics view of Jupiter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of my greatest writing pleasures has been getting to know Heidi Hammel when I wrote her biography, Beyond Jupiter for the Joseph Henry Press “Women’s Adventures in Science” series. 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