Remote Telescope Magic: Snapping Stunning Jupiter Auroras from Afar!

Scientists from the University of Reading are making important contributions to Nasa's efforts to photograph Jupiter. They are using the Keck telescope, which is located in Hawaii and is known for being the largest infrared telescope in the world. What makes this project special is that the scientists can now control the telescope remotely, meaning they do not have to travel all the way to Hawaii or other special facilities to take their pictures. Instead, they can operate the telescope from their university and download images of Jupiter in just seconds.

Dr James O'Donoghue, a Research Associate Professor in Planetary Astronomy at the University of Reading, expressed his excitement about this new way of working. He explained that the telescope allows them to measure Jupiter's temperature and observe changes in its brightness. This is especially interesting near Jupiter's poles, where amazing light shows called auroras take place. These auroras are extremely powerful and are created by hundreds of trillions of watts of energy.

By monitoring these auroras, scientists can learn more about how energy moves through Jupiter's atmosphere and how the planet interacts with the space around it. The infrared images from the Keck telescope reveal bright auroras at Jupiter's poles, and sometimes show a black circle in front of the planet. This circle is actually one of Jupiter's moons, called Callisto, which appears black in the images because it is so bright. The ability to study Jupiter remotely is a big step forward for space research, and the scientists hope their work will help us understand more about Jupiter and its fascinating auroras.