US EditionNASA Data Reveals Jupiter is Smaller and Flattter Than Beleived
Using 26 new measurements from NASA's Juno spacecraft, Weizmann researchers found Jupiter is 8 km narrower at the equator and 24 km flatter at the poles.
- Weizmann-Led researchers reported today that Jupiter is about 8 km narrower at the equator and 24 km flatter at the poles, with changes due to improved measurement methods, according to a study in Nature Astronomy published on February 2, 2026.
- Juno's extended orbit allowed NASA's Juno mission to collect as many as 26 new measurements after 2021 behind-Jupiter passes, replacing earlier data from Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft.
- By tracking radio signals bent by Jupiter's atmosphere, the team used radio occultation measurements and extreme winds on Jupiter to refine models, with Maria Smirnova and Maayan Ziv developing and testing key techniques.
- Textbook and model updates will be required, as textbooks must reflect refined measurements and models of Jupiter's interior and atmosphere plus gas-giant formation theories need adjustments, the team said.
- The team plans to apply these techniques to European Space Agency's JUICE mission data, launched in 2023 with a Weizmann-designed instrument, as recent microwave measurements from NASA's Juno spacecraft confirmed their predictions.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Jupiter smaller than thought
The scientific literature was wrong. The school textbooks will have to be replaced. Entire careers were built on falsehoods. New measurements overturn almost 50 years of consensus about the size and shape of the planet Jupiter, the largest in our solar system, which we now know is smaller than previously believed. — Read the rest The post Jupiter smaller than thought appeared first on Boing Boing.
An international scientific study revealed the most accurate measurement so far of the size and shape of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.The research was published on Monday 2 in Nature Astronomy magazine and used recent data sent by the NASA Juno probe, launched in 2011.The research, led by the Weizmann Institute of Sciences, was attended by astronomers from Italy, the United States, France and Switzerland.The results updated me…
Deflated: Israeli scientists find Jupiter, though huge, is smaller than previously thought
Using data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers make most precise measurement to date, say the gas giant is thinner and flatter than believed
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