Home » Geek Event, Lectures & Workshops

Peer Through Jupiter’s Clouds with Keck & the VLA | SF

Dang! This event has already taken place.
>> Want to see our Top Picks for this week instead?
Tuesday, July 18, 2017 - 7:45 pm | Cost: FREE
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers | 50 Moraga Ave, The Presidio, San Francisco, CA

Event Details

Bay Area Science Events

This event is curated by the Bay Area Science Festival as part of their year-round calendar of science events.

The festival takes place each fall with 10 days of science and technology lectures, games, exhibits, workshops and hands-on activities all over the Bay Area. 

> Find tons more Bay Area science events at bayareascience.org

Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Bay Area Science Events

Despite the fact that Jupiter has been observed for decades from the ground and in situ by spacecraft, its bulk composition and global atmospheric dynamics is still unknown to mankind. The sensitivity upgrade to the Very Large Array (VLA), combined with novel data reduction techniques, has enabled scientists to produce detailed longitude-resolved maps of Jupiter’s atmosphere at different wavelengths. Since at these wavelengths the main source of opacity is ammonia gas, the maps provide a 3D picture of ammonia gas in Jupiter’s atmosphere, within and below the planet’s visible cloud layers. These maps reveal upward and downward motions within the turbulent atmosphere, and bear a striking resemblance to visible- light images taken by amateur astronomers and Hubble.

At the 10-m Keck telescope they use 5-micron spectroscopy which provides complementary information on cloud altitudes and composition. The results provide important context for NASA’s Juno spacecraft, that arrived at Jupiter on July 4th, 2016, after a five year flight.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.


Cost: FREE
Categories: Geek Event, Lectures & Workshops
Address: 50 Moraga Ave, The Presidio, San Francisco, CA