A newly observe auroral characteristic on Jupiter bears a striking resemblance to expanding smoke rings , in a find made possible by NASA ’s Juno spacecraft .
Newresearchpublished in Journal of Geophysical Research : Space Physics describes syncope closed chain - shaped aurorean features on Jupiter , the largest of which assess around 1,240 miles ( 2,000 km ) across . Expanding quickly , the rings , or “ circular expanding UV - expelling ” in the parole of the investigator , were clock at speed between 2 and 4.8 mi per second ( 3.3 and 7.7 km / s ) .
As on Earth , Jupiter ’s aurorean feature are linked to charged particles within the magnetosphere .
Jupiter’s northern auroras.Image: NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols (University of Leicester)
“ We imagine these newly pick up weak UV features uprise millions of miles off from Jupiter , near the Jovian magnetosphere ’s boundary with the solar wind , ” Vincent Hue , the lead writer of the composition and a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute , say in astatement . “ The solar breaking wind is a ultrasonic flow of charge particle emitted by the Sun . When they reach Jupiter , they interact with its magnetosphere in a way that is still not well interpret . ”
Jupiter ’s magnetosphere , at 20,000 times the strength of Earth ’s , is so strong that the flatulence goliath can deflect incoming solar winds at distance between 2 million and 3 million mile away . Thomas Greathouse , a co - author of the new study and SWRI inquiry scientist , state Jupiter ’s speedy 10 - minute rotary motion is for the most part responsible for the motion of charged particle within its magnetosphere , but the “ solar steer ’s role is still argue , ” he said in the statement .
This much we eff from the Hubble Space Telescope , but NASA ’s Juno spacecraft is permit for more intimate reflexion of the gun giant . In orbit around Jupiter since 2016 and equip with its Ultraviolet Spectrograph , Juno detected the rapidly expanding band , which had n’t been run into until now .
The location of Jupiter’s northern aurora (left), a graphical representation of the newly detected ring-like feature (top right) and a sequence of false-color images showing an expanding ring over time (bottom right).Image: NASA/SWRI/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/V. Hue/G. R. Gladstone/B. Bonfond
The charged particles appear to be give forth from the outer reaches of the magnetosphere . Bertrand Bonfond , a co - source and astrophysicist from Liège University in Belgium , say the “ high - line of latitude placement of the rings indicates that the particles make the emissions are coming from the distant Jovian magnetosphere , near its bound with the solar wind , ” as he explained in the SWRI release .
The shaping of wave - like feature , technically known as Kelvin - Helmholtz unbalance , could be fall out owe to the fundamental interaction of the Jovian plasm and the solar idle words ; these instabilities happen in the presence of shear velocities , and it ’s a exchangeable physical process to how winds above water trip the establishment of waves . In this casing , however , the interaction is farm particle beam that travel along the magnetized field of battle product line , which in turn form the ringing auroras , according to the SWRI statement .
https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-spot-unique-meteorological-beast-on-jupit-1846502902
Animation showing an expanding auroral ring on Jupiter.Gif: NASA/SWRI/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/V. Hue/G. R. Gladstone/B. Bonfond
That said , the generator do n’t actually make any heroic claims in their newspaper as to the cause of the freshly detect lineament . That is something for a future discipline to investigate .
The good intelligence is that NASA has extended the Juno foreign mission to 2025 , which imply planetary scientists have more time to examine this planet and its majestic auroras .
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