Posted on 02/04/2026 10:03:49 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Jupiter is slightly smaller and flatter than scientists thought for decades, a new study finds.
Researchers used radio data from the Juno spacecraft to refine measurements of the solar system's largest planet. Although the differences between the current and previous measurements are small, they are improving models of Jupiter's interior and of other gas giants like it outside the solar system, the team reported Feb. 2 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
"Textbooks will need to be updated," study co-author Yohai Kaspi, a planetary scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, said in a statement. "The size of Jupiter hasn't changed, of course, but the way we measure it has."
Until now, scientists' understanding of Jupiter's size and shape have been based on six measurements performed by the Voyager 1 and 2 and Pioneer 10 and 11 missions. Those measurements, which have since been adopted as standard, were performed around 50 years ago using radio beams, according to the statement.
But the Juno mission, which has been gathering data on Jupiter and its moons since it arrived at the gas giant in 2016, has collected much more of this radio data in the past two years. With that additional data, researchers have now refined measurements of Jupiter's size down to about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in each direction.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
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Jupiter imaged by the Juno spacecraft, with the shadow of the massive moon Ganymede to the left. Data from Juno suggests that Jupiter is flatter than previously thought, according to a new study. (Image credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Thomas Thomopoulos © CC BY)
Probably less gassy too.
Those discharges are coming from Uranus.
And the Earth is flat. :D
So it’s not as voluptuous as we thought.
Dems go to Jupiter to get more stupider.
“Textbooks will need to be updated”
That used to be a big statement
The history department should be able to steer them in the right direction
“have now refined measurements of Jupiter’s size down to about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in each direction.”
Just imagine where humanity would be if they had gotten that right fifty years ago.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02777-x
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/space-physics/giant-planet%E2%80%99s-slimmer-profile
https://www.weizmann.ac.il/EPS/kaspi/home-0
In all my years of schooling, I don’t believe I ever had a textbook that listed the size of the planets, maybe in the appendix, but even so, none of my lessons included any problems that required knowing the size except for the Earth.
Yes, this changes everything.
That too.
They mean way upper level like PhD I guess
With that additional data, researchers have now refined measurements of Jupiter’s size down to about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in each direction.
All pictures of Jupiter in textbooks are as flat as a sheet of paper ... or at most a fisbee shape.
Why are our four ‘planets’ that are BALLS OF GAS even considered ‘planets?’ Pluto is more of a PLANET than Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune or Saturn!
Grrrr! I want Pluto back!
Another marketing scheme brought to us by teachers unions and academia to inflate the cost of education.
“Smaller and flatter....”
Knew a girl like that
No need to worry. Textbooks get updated all the time. Change two commas and require students to buy the "new" edition for $200 rather than buying a used textbook. What a racket.
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