A test by the European Space Agency (ESA) Juice mission (explorer of Jupiter’s icy moons) captured an image that shows the Van Allen radioactive belt with unprecedented clarity. The ring of hot plasma that exists around the Earth was observed by Jeni (from the acronym in English, Jupiter’s energetic neutrals and ions), which managed to capture with a new level of detail the region that is invisible to the naked eye.
The probe sent by ESA intends to explore three moons of Jupiter (Ganymede, Callisto and Europa) and, to this end, seeks to perform a triple gravitational maneuver. The tactic consists of a kind of slingshot, which will use the gravity of the Earth, the Moon and Venus to reach the destination planet.
The mission was launched in April, captured images of the radioactive belt in August, is expected to arrive at Venus only in August 2025 and intends to reach Jupiter only in 2031. During the tests, the Janus camera also captured an image in which the Earth and the Moon appear side by side.
What is the Van Allen radiation belt?
The Van Allen radiation belt surrounds the Earth, poses a danger to satellites and sensors and has high levels of radiation, exceeding the intensity of x-rays used in examinations.
These donut-shaped structures surround the magnetosphere, a region of our planet’s atmosphere that captures high-energy radiation particles and protects us from storms and solar winds that can damage technologies and people living on Earth’s surface. .
The Van Allen radiation belt was discovered in 1958 by astrophysicist James Van Allen, who designed the instruments aboard Explorer 1, the first spacecraft launched by the United States.
The spacecraft captured data using the Geiger (a radiation meter) on board the spacecraft and with this, space physics was created and an era of technology and communications was ushered in.
In 1968, NASA’s Apollo Mission 8 was the first manned spacecraft to fly beyond the Van Allen belts to orbit the Moon and return to Earth.
*With information from Fernanda Pinotti and Giovanna Christ, from CNN; and CNN International
See also: NASA’s Hubble Telescope captures new photo of the galaxy
Spacecraft takes a photo of the Earth and the Moon side by side seen from space; look
This content was originally published in NASA image shows Van Allen radioactive belt with unprecedented clarity on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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