The weather on Jupiter—much like that on Earth—not just by the chaos going on inside the atmosphere but also by external forces including space weather driven by the Sun.
In a study published last week in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists reported that a powerful burst of solar wind in January 2017 compressed Jupiter’s magnetic field, triggering dramatic auroral activity which heated the planet’s upper atmosphere by hundreds of degrees.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Temperatures soared by nearly 300 degrees Fahrenheit to over 930°F. The dramatic the intense response in the gas giant’s atmosphere to solar wind disturbances.
“The solar wind squished Jupiter’s magnetic shield like a giant squash ball. This created a super-hot region that spans half the planet. Jupiter’s diameter is 11 times larger than Earth’s, meaning this heated region is enormous. " according to Dr James O’Donoghue, lead author of the research at the University of Reading.
“We've studied Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in increasing detail over the past decade. These giant planets are not as resistant to the Sun’s influence as we thought – they're vulnerable, like Earth. Jupiter acts like alaboratory, allowing us to study how the Sun affects planets in general. By watching what happens there, we can better predict and understand the effects of solar storms which might disrupt GPS, communications, and power grids on Earth." O’Donoghue added.
Solar wind, a constrant 250 to 500 mile-per-hour stream of charged particles sent out by the Sun in all directions. These particals interact with the magentic field that surounds planets like Earth, leading to phenomena like auroras and geomagnetic storms.
The research team combined ground-based observations from the Keck telescope in Hawaii with data from NASA's Juno spacecraft and solar wind modelling. Juno has been exploring Jupiter, particularly its powerful magentic field, since 2016.