PicturingthePoles

BeyondtheasteroidbeltliesJupiter.Jupiteristhelargestplanetinthesolarsystem— 11timesthediameterofEarth.Since2016,aNASAspacecraftnamedJunohasbeenorbiting Jupiter.

Jupiterspinsfasterthananyotherplanetinthesolarsystem—onceevery9hoursand55minutes,comparedtoonceadayonEarth.Thisrapidspincreatesbeltsofgasthatrunfromwesttoeastacrosstheplanet.JunotookpicturesofJupiter’snorthandsouthpolesforthefirsttime.Theseareverydifferentfromtherestoftheplanet.Therearenogasbeltsthere.Instead,theplanet’spoleshavevast,swirling storms.

Thisartist’srenderingshowshowJunolooksasitorbits Jupiter.

FartherandFurther

There’splentyofspacetoexplorebeyondJupiter.In2006,NASAlaunchedaspacecraftnamedNewHorizons.ThespacecraftusedJupiter’sgravitytoslingshotitselftowardPluto.Plutoistheninthlargestobjectthatgoesaroundthe sun.


Nineyearsafteritslaunch,NewHorizonsflewpastPluto,showinguspicturesofmountainsthreemileshigh.Thesemountainsaren’tmadeofrock.They’remadeofwater-ice.Plutoissocoldthatthissubstanceisashardasrockandcanformtallmountains.Thiswasanimportantdiscovery.Scientistswanttoknowmoreabouthowthesemountains formed.


NewHorizonsisstillgoing.Itflewpastthefarthestobjectevervisited:Arrokoth.MuchsmallerthanPluto,Arrokothismadeoftwoobjectsstucktogether.Itlookslikeasnowmaninspace!Fromtiptotip,itisabout35kilometers(22miles) long.


Scientiststhinkitstwopartswereonceseparate.Theywentaroundeachother,thewaythemoongoesaroundEarth.Then,littlebylittle,theygotcloserandclosertoeachotherandeventuallyjoined together.

Thisartist’sdrawing,basedonimagestakenbythespacecraftNewHorizons,showsthemostdistantobjectevervisitedbyhuman spacecraft.

Voyagernowexploresinterstellarspace,asshowninthisartist’s drawing.

Arrokothisfar,faraway.Believeitornot,somespacecrafthavetraveledevenfarther.Forexample,Voyager1andVoyager2,whichNASAlaunchedin1977.Voyager1’smissionwastoflybyJupiterandSaturn.Voyager2flewbyJupiter,Saturn,Uranus,and Neptune.


BothspacecraftkeptgoingandarenowreallyfarawaybutarestillsendingdatabacktoEarth.Voyager1isnearly22billionkilometers(14billionmiles)fromthesun.That’snearly150timesfartherthanEarthistothesun.Voyager2isn’tfar behind.


Bothspacecraftarenowexploringinterstellarspace.That’stheregionbetweenstars.Thisisthefirsttimeaspacecrafthasgoneintoittoseewhatit’s like.


Whydoweexplorethesolarsystem?Becauseweareapartofit.Wewanttoknowmoreabouttheplacewherewelive.Eachmissionteachesusmoreandshowsusfascinatingnewplacesin space.