Jul 032017
 

With my treeline obscuring Jupiter so quickly after sunset, I will reconfigure the PTO back to deep sky imaging tomorrow, the 2nd of July. So, this is the last JunoCam image until next year.
 

By mid March, Jupiter will become a morning target and rise above my eastern treeline by 0200. The PTO will resume supporting the JunoCam project then. How long the project lasts is all up to Jupiter’s radiation and NASA. The intense radiation is expected to eventually degrade each of the scientific instruments despite the spacecraft’s titanium shielding. If the instruments are no longer functional the Juno mission will end in July 2018. If some are still working it will be up to NASA to decide if additional funding is warranted to extend the mission.

 Posted by at 16:25

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