Jupiter Distant Encounter
Ulysses's orbit brought it into the vicinity of Jupiter during 2003 and
2004. During this encounter it made a unique path that
reached high Jovian latitudes. Ulysses investigators made detailed
observations in order to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Details
of the encounter are given below.
Observing Goals
The table below lists a number of investigations that have been identified as valuable research topics that were carried out during the Jovian encounter. These included not only Ulysses investigators but other research groups interested in Jupiter and its environment.
Ulysses URAP Observing Goals - Jupiter Distant Encounter | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Observing Goal | Non-Ulysses Collaborators | Observing Interval(s) | Priority | Comments |
1 | Compare Ulysses- Galileo observations of Jovian emissions | Galileo radio investigation | Present - 9/2003 | high | Galileo end of mission in 9/2003; Ulysses latitude variation important |
2 | Categorize Jovian emissions in latitude- longitude space | - | Present - 12/2004 | high | Need at least 1 month observing per 5 deg lat. interval (jovicentric) |
3 | Measure scattering of kHz waves in IPM | - | Present -- 2/2004 | medium | Using time profiles of QP bursts |
4 | Conduct joint studies of Jovian quasi- periodic (QP) bursts (J_lat 30 -- 60 deg) | CXO, HST, etc. | 10/2002 - 2/2003 1/2004 -- 3/2004 (rel. long. Earth & Jupiter similar) | very high | Planning w/ H. Waite (coauthor of Chandra/QP burst Science article) |
5 | Study solar wind control of Jovian auroral emissions | Ground-based IR, HST, Int'l Jupiter Watch | 10/2002 -- 2/2003 1/2004 -- 4/2004 (same as #4) | very high | In 2004, Ulysses location permits good projection of SW conditions at Jup. |
6 | Study the low freq. elliptically-polarized source (aka BHM) | - | 1/2004 -- 3/2004 | high | 1024 bps required for polarization; need to be <1 AU from Jupiter |
7 | Conduct joint Ulysses-Cassini observations of SKR | Cassini radio investigation | 7/2004 - ?? | medium | Cassini arrives at Saturn 7/2004 |
Ulysses Trajectory Plots
Shown below are plots of the Ulysses-Jupiter range,
the jovicentric and heliographic latitudes of Ulysses,
the relative heliolongitudes,
and the position of Ulysses in Jovian local time.
PDF version of this plot.
Below is a plot of the trajectory Ulysses will follow from 2002 to 2005. As can be seen in the plot, Ulysses reaches to about 75 deg. North Jovigraphic Latitude in late 2003 and remains there for several months. Ulysses is the first spacecraft to allow a long period of observations at these high Jovian latitudes and thus presents an opportunity to make unique new discoveries about the Jovian environment. Postscript version of this plot.
The plot below shows the orbital path of Ulysses in ecliptic coordinates during January 2003 to September 2004. Postscript version of this plot.