Scientists understand the mechanism of the auroras on Jupiter

A research team led by University College London has solved the mystery...

which scientists have been struggling with for several decades. They didn't understand how Jupiter produces a burst of X-rays every few minutes.

X-rays are part of the auroraJupiter - bursts of visible and invisible light that occur when charged particles interact with the planet's atmosphere. A similar phenomenon occurs on Earth, creating the northern lights, but in Jupiter it is much more powerful and releases hundreds of gigawatts of energy. This is enough for a short-term energy supply to the entire Earth.

In a new study published in the journalScience Advances, scientists have combined close-up observations of Jupiter's environment with NASA's Juno satellite. They also took into account data from X-ray measurements from the XMM-Newton observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Scientists have recorded meteorite impacts on the Earth's surface over 500 million years

The research team found thatX-ray flares were caused by periodic oscillations of Jupiter's magnetic field lines. These vibrations create waves of plasma (ionized gas) that send heavy ion particles along magnetic field lines until they crash into the planet's atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of X-rays.

“Now we know that ions are carriedplasma waves - this explanation for 40 years has not been proposed by other researchers, although a similar process is behind the auroras on Earth. This can be a universal phenomenon that is present in many environments in space, ”the scientists noted.

X-rays occur at the north and south poles of Jupiter. Occasionally, the planet produced bursts of X-rays every 27 minutes.

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