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NASA has detected the most energetic light ever seen from Jupiter, and in the process has finally solved a 30-year-old mystery.
In the new study, researchers using NASA’s NuSTAR Space Observatory were able to discover the highest energy light ever seen from Jupiter. Light, which is X-ray radiation, is the highest energy light that can be seen on any planet in the solar system other than Earth.
But this discovery did not stop there. It also helps scientists understand why NASA’s Ulysses Solar Probe didn’t see Jupiter’s X-rays when it flew by Jupiter’s side in 1992.
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This is not the first time X-rays have been found on Jupiter. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton Observatory have both observed low-energy X-rays from the giant planet’s aurora.
Jupiter’s auroras, which occur at the north and south poles of Jupiter, are created by ions emitted from Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, accelerated by the planet’s magnetic field toward the poles. There, ions interact with Jupiter’s atmosphere, emitting X-rays and creating an aurora show. NASA’s Juno probe, which landed on Jupiter in 2016, discovered that Io’s electrons also interact with the planet’s magnetic field.
Scientists thought that Io’s electrons could produce much more powerful X-rays than planetary aurora, but this time Nusta’s observations allow researchers to confirm for the first time that Io’s electrons are actually generating high-energy X-rays. did. Launched into space in 2012, Nustar is an X-ray space telescope that explores space with high-energy X-rays.
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“It’s very difficult for a planet to generate X-rays in the range that a planet detects Nusta,” said Kaya Mori, lead author of the study and astrophysicist at Columbia University, in a statement. It rotates, and these two properties cause the planet’s magnetosphere to act like a giant particle accelerator, releasing powerful energy.”
By discovering these high-energy X-rays, researchers might be able to unravel an ongoing mystery. In 1992, TK Agency’s Ulysses spacecraft flew next to Jupiter, but detected no X-rays of any kind. A result like this left scientists confused.
According to a new study, the reason Ulysses didn’t discover X-rays is because the mechanism that generates this light makes them fainter at higher energies, according to a new study. For this reason, it is assumed that Jupiter’s X-rays were too faint to be detected in Ulysses’ detection range.
This study is described in detail in a paper published in the February 10 issue of the journal ‘Nature Astronomy’.
Columnist Lee Kwang-sik joand999@naver.com
