When you think about Jupiter, you possibly see the planet with orange and reddish bands and the well-known Good Red Spot staring at you like a giant eye.
But did you know that these well-known bands maintain altering size, colour and place? Every single 4 to 5 years, Jupiter adjustments its stripes, and ever considering the fact that Galileo Galilei observed them in the 17th century, scientists have wondered why.
What we do know is that every belt, consisting of clouds of ammonia and water in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, corresponds to powerful winds blowing from the east or west. Scientists have also linked these streaks, which attain a lot more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere, to adjustments in infrared variations inside the planet. But a group of researchers just found a further crucial clue, and it all boils down to Jupiter’s magnetic field.
Connected: Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar technique (images)
Working with information from NASA’s Juno spacecraft in orbit about Jupiter, the group linked variations in the gas giant’s variety to adjustments in its magnetic field.
“It is probable to receive wave motions in the planetary magnetic field, which are referred to as torsional oscillations.” The fascinating point is that when we calculated the periods of these torsional oscillations, they matched the periods you see in the infrared from Jupiter. “mentioned study co-author Chris Jones, a professor in the College of Mathematics at the University of Leeds in England.
As it goes in the planet of science, this discovery produces even a lot more mysteries.
“Uncertainties and queries stay, especially how precisely the torsional oscillation produces the observed infrared variation, which most likely reflects complicated cloud/aerosol dynamics and reactions. These need a lot more study,” lead study author Kumiko Hori, formerly of the University of Leeds and presently at the Univ. Kobe in Japan, according to the identical statement.
“Nonetheless, I hope our operate could also open a window to probe Jupiter’s hidden deep interior, just as seismology does for Earth and helioseismology does for the Sun,” Horry mentioned.
The team’s study was published May well 18 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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