Exploration
The existence of the Jovian rings was inferred from observations of the planetary radiation belts by Pioneer 11 spacecraft in 1975. In 1979 the Voyager 1 spacecraft obtained a single overexposed image of the ring system. More extensive imaging was conducted by Voyager 2 in the same year, which allowed rough determination of the ring’s structure. The superior quality of the images obtained by the Galileo orbiter between 1995 and 2003 greatly extended the existing knowledge about the Jovian rings. Ground-based observation of the rings by the Keck telescope in 1997 and 2002 and the HST in 1999 revealed the rich structure visible in back-scattered light. Images transmitted by the New Horizons spacecraft in February–March 2007 allowed observation of the fine structure in the main ring for the first time. In 2000, the Cassini spacecraft en route to Saturn conducted extensive observations of the Jovian ring system. Future missions to the Jovian system will provide additional information about the rings.
Read more about this topic: Rings Of Jupiter
Famous quotes containing the word exploration:
“Typography tended to alter language from a means of perception and exploration to a portable commodity.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“I call her old. She has one family
Whose claim is good to being settled here
Before the era of colonization,
And before that of exploration even.
John Smith remarked them as he coasted by....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“For women who do not love us, as for the “disappeared”, knowing that we no longer have any hope does not prevent us form continuing to wait. We live on our guard, on watch; women whose son has gone asea on a dangerous exploration imagine at any minute, although it has long been certain that he has perished, that he will enter, miraculously saved, and healthy.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)