r/space • u/[deleted] • 1d ago

Discussion Solar wave squeezed Jupiter's magnetic shield to unleash heat

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u/space-ModTeam 23h ago

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12

u/lowbass4u 1d ago

Wait a minute. How is a solar wave with that much energy hitting Jupiter consistently and Jupiter is further away from the sun than Earth is?

10

u/thisischemistry 1d ago

Earth gets heated in a similar manner. However, it’s a smaller target with a smaller magnetic field and a different atmosphere than Jupiter so the amount of heating tends to be different.

Magnetosphere of Jupiter

Wider and flatter than the Earth's magnetosphere, Jupiter's is stronger by an order of magnitude, while its magnetic moment is roughly 18,000 times larger.

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u/burner_for_celtics 1d ago

I haven't read anything about this for a while, but when I was in grad school like 20 years ago there were folks that were modeling the response of the Earth's Magnetosphere who asserted that it had a resonant timescale to it, and if the wave crossed over on that timescale there would be a more dramatic geomagnetic response

Perhaps the larger magnetosphere of Jupiter is well-matched to co-rotating interaction regions.

8

u/YahenP 1d ago

This is similar to how a brake works in a car wheel. A small force applied to the brake shoe (in this case, to the magnetic field of a gas giant) causes heating due to friction. And the energy for heating is taken from the rotation energy of the wheel (planet).

1

u/burner_for_celtics 1d ago

Hello.

This is a cool paper-- I just want to clarify one error in your synopsis. This isn't a "solar burst" phenomenon.

The sun rotates about once per month, and it has [usually] a North Pole and a South Pole. That means that the equator passes over the planets at least twice a month. Scientists call that the "heliospheric current sheet"

There is usually a differential in the speed of solar wind when you cross from the influence of one pole to the influence of the other. Hence the "2-3 times a month"

This drives semi-regular monthly cycles in the Earth's aurora, too.