Astronomers have detected a heat wave the size of 10 Earth-sized planets traveling through the gas giant Jupiter’s atmosphere at 2,400 meters per second from the planet’s north pole.
And according to RT, scientists say it could solve one of the most troublesome puzzles on the largest planet in the solar system: why is it as hot as models predict?
The heatwave appears to be a permanent aurora shining at Jupiter’s poles, which could provide additional energy to heat the gas giant to temperatures well beyond what we would expect and is likely responsible, along with intense solar winds, for the increase. heat wave.
“Last year we created the first maps of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere that could identify the prevailing heat sources,” says astronomer James O’Donogh of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). “Using these maps, we showed that Jupiter’s Northern Lights were a potential mechanism that could explain Jupiter’s temperatures.
The first idea that something strange had happened in Jupiter’s atmosphere was born in the 1970s, that is, about 50 years ago.
Jupiter is known to be farther from the Sun than Earth, almost five times further from Earth, in fact. From this distance it receives only 4% of the solar radiation that falls on the Earth.
The average temperature in the upper atmosphere is expected to be around -73 degrees Celsius (-99 degrees Fahrenheit). Instead, the temperature is around 420 degrees Celsius, which is comparable to the Earth’s upper atmosphere, and is much higher than can be explained by solar heating alone.
This means that something else has to happen on Jupiter. The first heat maps obtained by O’Donoghue and his colleagues, published last year, suggest a solution to this mystery.
Jupiter is crowned with the most powerful Northern Lights in the solar system, shining at wavelengths invisible to the human eye. We also know that the Northern Lights here on Earth cause the atmosphere to warm.
Like the Northern Lights on Earth, Jupiter’s Northern Lights are often created by the interplay of charged particles, magnetic fields, and particles in the planet’s atmosphere.
Even the Northern Lights for the buyer It is stable and is produced by the particles of its moon Io, which is the most volcanic body in the Solar System and constantly emits sulfur dioxide. This results in plasma flows around Jupiter that are directed towards the poles via magnetic field lines, where they rain down into the atmosphere.
Previous Jupiter heat maps revealed hot spots just below the auroral oval, suggesting a link between the two.
But then it got more interesting because Io’s contribution doesn’t mean there is no polar contribution from the Sun, as O’Donoghue and colleagues note.
When they collected observations of Jupiter and strange temperatures, the dense solar wind collided with the gas giant. As a result, the team noticed an improvement in auditory warmth.
As the hot gas expands, a heat wave is likely to emerge from the auroral oval and spin towards the equator at thousands of kilometers per hour.
Hence, as it spreads, it can cause dramatic warming of the atmosphere.
“While the Northern Lights are constantly transmitting heat to the rest of the planet, this heat wave phenomenon is an important source of additional energy. These findings add to our knowledge of the weather and climate in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere and are of great help in solving the energy crisis, ”explains O’Donoghue. , which is rocking research on giant planets.
And Jupiter isn’t the only solar system that is much hotter than it should be, because Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus are hundreds of degrees warmer than solar heating can explain.
And while none of these latter planets have auroras at the level of Jupiter, the discovery represents a method of exploration that could somehow solve some of the mysteries of the solar system.
