Thebe resides at the outer edge of Jupiter's faint ring system and is believed to play a role in the formation of the planet's 'gossamer' ring through the shedding of dust. The Stellar Reference Unit, or SRU, is primarily used for navigation by imaging star fields, but its high sensitivity in low-light conditions makes it a powerful secondary science instrument. The SRU has previously been used to discover 'shallow lightning' in Jupiter's atmosphere and to image the planet's ring system.
The Juno mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for principal investigator Scott J. Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center.