Galileo Cruises the Inner Jovian System

Galileo is a spacecraft that is orbiting Jupiter. It has been there since 1995. On November 5, 2002, Galileo went very close to Jupiter. It made measurements of the radiation near Jupiter. There is an animation on this page that shows where Galileo went, and what the measurements it made were like.

You need to have the newest version of the Flash player on your computer to see this animation.

Galileo went very close to Jupiter. Jupiter has moons, but you can only see the five that are closest to Jupiter (Adrastea, Metis, Amalthea, Thebe, and Io) in this animation. You can also see Jupiter's rings. There are three parts to Jupiter's rings. The Halo Ring is closest to Jupiter. Next is the Main Ring. The Gossamer Ring is the furthest away from Jupiter.

There is a lot of radiation near Jupiter. There are also very strong magnetic fields. Most people think that space is empty. The space near Jupiter is not empty; it is filled with dust and radiation and magnetic fields!

Last modified October 7, 2003 by Randy Russell.

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