The Juno spacecraft has managed to recover electromagnetic waves that then turned out to be the sounds coming from Gamenide, Jupiter's satellite.
If until a few years ago the only elements coming from Jupiter were films and stills, with the latest discovery of Nasa come additional elements useful to the study of Space: the sounds. That's right.
Through the Waves device (equipped with a radio communications antenna and an instrument for measuring the magnetic field), Juno, NASA's spacecraft has managed to record electromagnetic waves from Ganymede, Jupiter's satellite is the largest in our solar system. After collecting the data, the team of researchers analyzed them through audio gamma systems, managing to produce a 50-second track.
This is a considerable discovery, because it allows us to understand the systems that revolve around Jupiter and the lunar surface.
A research that has been going on since 2016
Jupiter presents a morphological variety with lighter and darker areas and it is the largest planet in the solar system. All characteristics that make it the object of study by physicists and astronomers. So in August 2011, Nasa launched the probe (the first with solar panels) that reached Jupiter in 2016.
Catching the electromagnetic waves has been an arduous mission, so much so that the first sighting at Ganymede occurred last June 7, when Juno was 645 miles (1,038 km) from the lunar surface and traveling at a relative speed of 41,600 mph (67,000 km/h). Analyzing the spacecraft's passages, scientists noticed electromagnetic particles that later turned out to be noises. To date, the material collected is still being analyzed, but according to William Kurth, head of the research team, the sounds indicate the transition from day to night of Ganymede. The sounds are reminiscent of those of Star Wars character R2-D2.
In addition to the discovery itself, the revelation of the sounds represents a real first for astronomy, so much so that never before an aircraft had come so close to the lunar surface.
In the meantime, the research team is working to study other forms of life on Jupiter, precisely because there are of waterways. Juno will continue its investigation of Jupiter until September 2025.
Matteo Melani