Hey Star Gazers!

Today, we're going to take you on# a journey all the way to our fifth and largest planet, Jupiter, and explore one of NASA's most# fascinating missions, Juno.

Not the Sabrina Carpenter song.

The Juno mission is one of NASA's# biggest space exploration projects in recent years.

It was launched in 2011 with the primary# goal of studying Jupiter.

Juno arrived at Jupiter in July of 2016 after a 5-year journey through# space.

Its mission is to understand how Jupiter formed its cloudy atmosphere, its magnetic field# and its deep interior.

Jupiter is a gas giant, so it has no surface to land on.

So Juno just orbits# the planet, diving down into the clouds to gather data about its atmosphere.

Juno is equipped with# some of the most advanced scientific instruments ever sent to space, including a magnetometer,# an infrared spectrometer, and a gravity science experiment, all designed to peer into the heart# of Jupiter.

Scientists believe studying Jupiter will give us insights into how our whole solar# system and potentially others formed billions of years ago.

And Juno has found some pretty amazing# stuff so far.

For example, Jupiter has a magnetic field just like we do on Earth.

But Jupiter's# magnetosphere is the largest and most powerful of any planet in the solar system.

Understanding it# helps scientists learn more about how the planet's core works and how it interacts with solar winds.# Juno has also captured stunning high resolution images of Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot, which# is a massive storm that's been raging for hundreds of years.

The spot is larger than the whole# Earth, but for some reason, it's shrinking.

Juno is helping scientists guess why that may be and# how a storm the size of a planet actually works.

One of my favorite things about Juno is what we# are learning applies to more than just Jupiter.

The data it's collecting is giving us a deeper# understanding of the building blocks of planetary formation.

That could help us learn more about# exoplanets.

Those are planets that orbit other stars.

So whether you're looking up at the night# sky tonight or just contemplating the mysteries of the universe, remember that there's a spacecraft# out there flying over Jupiter, helping us unlock secrets about the very nature of our solar# system.

For now, all missions must come to an end.

And Juno's mission wraps up in late 2025.# NASA plans to end the mission by deliberately and dramatically crashing the spacecraft into Jupiter.# The crash is actually a planetary protection plan.

Some of Jupiter's moons are targets of future# missions, hunting for life in our solar system.

So, if we don't crash Juno on purpose, it could# get pulled down and crash into one of those moons, and that risks contaminating it with leftover# Earth microbes that Juno might have on board.

By flying it into Jupiter's atmosphere, it'll burn# up in a fiery end, protecting any life that might be out there.

It's a respectful conclusion# for a spacecraft that spent nearly a decade studying the gas giant.

Juno will continue to# send data right up until its final moments, giving scientists a last valuable look into# the planet's mysteries.

Even though we'll say goodbye to Juno soon, the wealth of knowledge it's# provided will continue to inspire and inform space exploration for years to come.

Well, Juno, it's# been swell.

Until next time, keep looking up!

For more Star Gazers, click the video below.

Don't# leave me hanging.

Come on, click it.

Click it.