JEDI

Jupiter aurora; the bright spot at far left is the end of field line to Io; spots at bottom lead to Ganymede and Europa
Artist generated diagram showing the location of various instruments

JEDI (Jovian Energetic Particle Detector Instrument), is an instrument on the Juno spacecraft sent to orbit planet Jupiter.[1] It is part of a suite of instruments to study the magnetosphere of Jupiter.[1]

JEDI is designed to collect data on "energy, spectra, mass species (H, He, O, S), and angular distributions";[1] the plan is to study the energies and distribution of charged particles.[2] It can detect them at between 30 and 1,000,000 keV, whereas JADE, another instrument on the spacecraft, is designed to observe below 30 keV.[3] One of the concepts being studied is that energy from Jupiter's rotation is being converted into its atmosphere and magnetosphere.[3]

It is radiation hardened to collect in situ data on the planet's auroral magnetic field lines, the equatorial magnetosphere, and the polar ionosphere [1] It was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).[4] One of the goals is to understand the aurora, and how particles are accelerated to such high speeds.[5] One of the mysteries of Jupiter is that X-rays are emitted from the poles, but do not seem to come from the auroral ring.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 D. Haggerty, et al. - JEDI -- The Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector for the Juno mission (2008)
  2. ↑ W. Grahm - ULA Atlas V launches NASA’s Juno on a path to Jupiter (2011) - Nasaspaceflight.com
  3. 1 2 NASA - Video on JEDI
  4. ↑ Space Scientists Seek Returns from JEDI
  5. ↑ P. Gilster - Juno: Into the Jovian Magnetosphere - Centari Dreams
  6. ↑ Puzzling X-rays from Jupiter


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