Jupiter's Synchrotron Emission

Описание: Find out more at http://missionjuno.swri.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/juno.

Movie made from observations of Jupiter by the radio telescopes of the Very Large Array. Jupiter's spin axis is offset from its magnetic poles - meaning Jupiter has a "true north" and "magnetic north" like our planet does. This movie demonstrates the offset. Seen here is a type of radio emission from Jupiter called synchrotron emission, which is closely linked to the planet's magnetic field. Due to the offset, the synchrotron emission (a proxy for the magnetic field) appears to wobble as the planet rotates on its axis.

The scale of colors from blue ("low") to yellow ("high") represents the intensity of synchrotron emission, which is an indicator of the presence of electrons moving at nearly the speed of light. First observed in the late 1950s, the presence of these electrons was an early indicator to scientists that Jupiter was surrounded by belts of charged particle radiation.

Credit: NASA/JPL/NOAO