Juice/SWI during the Lunar-Earth-Gravity-Assist (LEGA). IV. Antenna pointing and beam characterisation

2026 Preprint Open access

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Authors: R. Moreno, L. Rezac, Tomáš Formánek, Thibault Cavalié, C. Jarchow, Emmanuel Lellouch, P. Hartogh, Axel Murk, Mikko Kotiranta, Alberto Carrasco Gallardo, Samuel Goodyear, Ali Schulz-Ravanbakhsh
+9 more B. Dąbrowski, F. Herpin, Yasuko J. Kasai, Donal Murtagh, M Olberg, M. Rengel, Hideo Sagawa, S. Szutowicz, Eva Wirström
DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-2026-2064
Cited by: 3

Abstract

Abstract. The Submillimetre Wave Instrument (SWI) onboard the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft consists of a 29 cm off-axis paraboloid antenna and two double-sideband heterodyne receivers operating in the frequency ranges of 530–638 and 1066–1286 GHz. This instrument is designed to study Jupiter’s atmosphere and the exospheres of the Galilean moons. We used the Lunar-Earth-Gravity-Assist (LEGA) data from August 2024 to characterise this antenna using several SWI observations pointing towards the Earth. The data analysis of the LEGA observations dedicated to the antenna beam allows us to characterise the antenna beam Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM), sidelobes, absolute pointing and receiver coalignement. Moreover, an estimate of the calibration efficiency factor has been obtained.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Planetary Science and Exploration Astro and Planetary Science

Publication details

Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Publication date
22 April 2026
Document type
Preprint