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Artist's depiction of Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter. The exploration of Jupiter has been conducted via close observations by automated spacecraft.It began with the arrival of Pioneer 10 into the Jovian system in 1973, and, as of 2024, has continued with eight further spacecraft missions in the vicinity of Jupiter and two more en route.
Jupiter III Galileo [9] [10] discovered the Galilean moons. These satellites were the first celestial objects that were confirmed to orbit an object other than the Sun or Earth. Galileo saw Io and Europa as a single point of light on 7 January 1610; they were seen as separate bodies the following night. [11] Callisto: Jupiter IV o: 8 January 1610
In both the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, Jupiter was named after the chief god of the divine pantheon: Zeus to the Greeks and Jupiter to the Romans. [19] The International Astronomical Union formally adopted the name Jupiter for the planet in 1976 and has since named its newly discovered satellites for the god's lovers, favourites, and descendants. [20]
1979 – Voyager 1 flies by Jupiter and discovers its faint ring system, as well as volcanoes on Io, the innermost of its Galilean moons. [201] 1979 – Voyager 2 flies by Jupiter and discovers evidence of an ocean under the surface of its moon Europa. [202] 1980 – Voyager 1 flies by Saturn and takes the first images of Titan. [203]
Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby [239] [240] [241] Voyager 1: 5 September 1977 Jupiter/Saturn flyby, first to exit the heliosphere [241] [242] [243] Pioneer Venus 1: 20 May 1978 Venus orbiter [244] [245] Pioneer Venus 2: 8 August 1978 Venus atmospheric probes [246] [247] ISEE-3: 12 August 1978
Galileo also discovered that the Moon was cratered, that the Sun was marked with sunspots, and that Jupiter had four satellites in orbit around it. [13] Christiaan Huygens followed on from Galileo's discoveries by discovering Saturn's moon Titan and the shape of the rings of Saturn. [14]
NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this view of Jupiter during the mission's 54th close flyby of the giant planet Sept. 7, 2023.
First flyby of Jupiter. First spacecraft beyond the Inner Solar System. USA (NASA) Pioneer 10 [33] January 1974 First spacecraft to return data on a long-period comet. USA (NASA) Mariner 10 [34] 5 February 1974: First mission to explore two planets in a single mission (Mercury and Venus). First photograph of Venus from space.