How can the solar wind influence Jupiter’s massive magnetic field? This is what a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how the solar wind causing significant heating at Jupiter’s poles, which is spread across the planet’s atmosphere from its violent winds. This study has the potential to help researchers better understand the interactions between the Sun and planets throughout the solar system, and potentially other star systems.
For the study, the researchers used a combination of spacecraft data obtained from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, ground observations obtained from the Keck Observatory, and computer modeling to analyze how the solar wind interacts with Jupiter’s magnetic field. after analyzing the data, the researchers found it matches longstanding models regarding how the solar wind could cause Jupiter’s magnetic field to compress, resulting in increased heating at the poles and enhance aurorae activity. They also noted this heat was transported from the poles to Jupiter’s equator at speeds between 0.46 to 2.02 kilometers per second (0.29 to 1.26 miles per second), which are similar speeds as observed on the Earth under similar activity.
“We've studied Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in increasing detail over the past decade,” said Dr. James O’Donoghue, who is a research associate professor in planetary astronomy at the University of reading and lead author of the study. “These giant planets are not as resistant to the Sun’s influence as we thought – they're vulnerable, like Earth. Jupiter acts like a laboratory, allowing us to study how the Sun affects planets in general. By watching what happens there, we can better predict and understand the effects of solar storms which might disrupt GPS, communications, and power grids on Earth.”
Our Sun experience solar cycles of approximately 11 years where solar activity increases and decreases, resulting in charged particles being discharged towards the planets and altering their atmospheres in unknown ways. This study helps scientists better understand these interactions so we can make better informed decisions for current activities and future space missions.
What new discoveries regarding solar wind-planet interactions will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Geophysical Research Letters, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Jupiter and its aurorae captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols (University of Leicester))
