Today on Galileo - June 28, 1997
Today is the next to last day for the Callisto-9 encounter period. During the day the commands for the first half of the cruise period are transmitted to the spacecraft. Today's observation schedule focuses primarily on Jupiter, its magnetosphere, and Io.
The morning schedule is sprinkled with observations of the Great Red Spot performed by NIMS (Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) and PPR (Photopolarimeter Radiometer). Late in the morning, PPR performs a north-south strip observation and, in the early afternoon, a single observation of a plume head region. Also throughout the morning, NIMS performs a series of observations that will be used to construct a cylindrical map (which looks like a flat rectangular map) of a north latitude hotspot region.
Jupiter aurora observations are performed by UVS (Ultraviolet Spectrometer) and EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer) in conjunction with a high-time-resolution recording of the magnetosphere performed by the fields and particles instruments. The observed region of the magnetosphere is believed to be magnetically linked to the high-latitude Jovian aurora.
Observations of Io are performed throughout the day by UVS, NIMS and SSI (Solid State Imaging camera). Some of these occur while Io is in eclipse, i.e. while sunlight is blocked from reaching Io by Jupiter. The day ends with a joint observation of the Io torus performed by UVS and EUV.