Jupiter’s magnetic shielding buckle releases unexpected heat waves under the solar wind

Scientists have witnessed for the first time how Jupiter’s protective magnetic bubbles are compressed by the solar wind, creating huge heat waves on the huge planet.

Researchers at the University of Reading found that when a dense solar vent (charged particles flowing from the sun) hit Jupiter in 2017, it actually squeezes the Earth’s magnetosphere like a cosmic pressure ball. The resulting compression triggers a significant temperature peak in a huge area of ​​the upper atmosphere of Jupiter.

“We have never captured Jupiter’s response to the solar wind before – the way in which the atmosphere of the Earth is very unexpected,” said Dr. James O’Donoghue, the lead author of the study published in a letter to geophysics research on Thursday. “This is the first time we’ve seen something like this in any outside world.”

The team identified a hot area spanning half of Jupiter’s circumference, where temperatures soared above 500°C – much higher than the typical 350°C background temperature in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Given that Jupiter is 11 times larger in diameter than Earth, this heating area represents a large amount of superheated gas.

These findings challenge previous assumptions about the resilience of gas giants on the sun’s impact. Scientists have long believed that Jupiter’s rapid rotation will heat up through strong atmospheric winds containing aurora in the extreme winds. New data suggests other situations.

This discovery comes from a collaborative effort to combine Keck Telescope’s ground-based observations with NASA’s Juno spacecraft and complex solar wind power modeling. This comprehensive approach allows researchers to reconstruct the sequence of events: solar wind compresses Jupiter’s huge magnetosphere, exacerbating aurora heating on Jupiter’s poles. This in turn causes the upper atmosphere to expand, overflowing the heat toward the planet’s equator.

Although such events sound unusual, researchers estimate that they happen frequently.

“Scientists now believe that this sun burst hits Jupiter 2-3 times a month,” the study said.

The impact of these findings is not just about understanding Jupiter. They believe that the planetary atmosphere throughout the solar system may be more susceptible to the sun’s influence than previously understood.

“These giant planets are less resistant to the impact we imagined on the Sun – they are as fragile as the Earth,” explains Dr. O’Donoghue. “Jupiter acts like a lab, allowing us to study how the Sun affects the planets.”

The research could even help scientists develop better tools to predict and mitigate the damage of solar storms on Earth. These powerful solar plasma eruptions can disrupt GPS navigation, telecommunications, and even the power grid when interacting with our planet’s magnetic fields.

“Our solar wind model correctly predicts that Jupiter’s atmosphere will be disturbed,” said Professor Mathew Owens, co-author of the University of Reading. “This helps us further understand the accuracy of the prediction system, which is essential for protecting the Earth from dangerous space weather.”

The sun’s burst appears to be able to significantly alter the upper atmospheric dynamics of large planets and may generate global wind patterns that redistribute energy in these huge objects. As researchers continue to study these interactions, Jupiter is an oversized natural laboratory that provides insights into the fundamental processes that affect the world throughout the solar system and beyond.

These findings represent another step in understanding the complex relationship between stars and planetary companions – the dance of energy and magnetic fields plays a role throughout space.