SPACE — The mysterious workings of Jupiter’s magnetic field are beginning to be revealed thanks to a small jet buried deep in the gas giant’s atmosphere. New researchers claim that, once every four years, the jet appears to fluctuate like a wave.
While it’s not yet clear what carries the atmospheric jets, the new findings reveal some clues about the complex and unseen workings of an area of magnetism near Jupiter’s equator, called the Great Blue Spot. The region is not actually blue, it’s just that scientists use a color scale to create maps of Jupiter’s magnetic field.
Unlike the Earth’s magnetic field, the gas giant’s magnetic field is not symmetrical about its rotation axis. The asymmetry is so pronounced that the Great Blue Spot can even be compared to a second south pole rising from the planet’s equator. Apparently, parts of the area were swept westward by a jet, while others were swept away by winds flowing eastward.
“This is a mystery. “We don’t know why it has such an anomaly,” said Yohai Kaspi, a professor of earth and planetary sciences and co-investigator of NASA’s Juno mission.
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However, in a paper published in Nature on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, scientists offer more insight into the Great Blue Spot. They used data sent by the Juno spacecraft, which is currently still investigating Jupiter and has mapped the Great Blue Spot.
‘Just as ocean waves change their speed as they move, these new findings suggest there is wave-like behavior deep within Jupiter’s metallic core that could be driving the observed magnetic field,’ the study’s lead author, Jeremy Bloxham of Harvard University, told BBC Science Focus.
Bloxham said this change could largely be explained by the point’s shift eastward. However, as reported in the new research, the rate of shift has fluctuated.”l
Scientists previously knew that strong magnetic field clusters on Jupiter drift more than anywhere else on the gas planet. This is believed to be due to strong winds blowing directly from the turbulent surface to depths of 1,860 and 3,000 kilometers). At this deepest point, Jupiter’s strong magnetic field is thought to dampen these winds.
The newly discovered jet even hovers at a very small speed, namely tens of centimeters per second in this area. This is very small compared to other jets on the surface that move many times faster.
Also read: NASA’s Juno probe sends new images of Jupiter’s moon Io, the fiery object in the solar system
“However, this finding is a very marginal measurement,” said Kaspi, who was not involved in the paper.
According to him, it is better to consider the findings as preliminary results within the noise limits. Because scientists don’t yet have enough data to conclude that the jet fluctuates exactly every four years.
“If your data only comes from five years, you can’t say anything about a four-year period,” he said.
2024-03-10 12:07:00
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