A 40-year-old Mystery of Jupiter May be Solved - The Cosmic Companion July 15, 2021
Regular flashes of light near the poles of Jupiter have long been seen, but never explained - until now.
A great mystery of Jupiter — the cause of regular flashes near the poles of the mighty planet — may be solved.
Just like Earth, Jupiter is home to polar lights, driven by charged particles racing through the planet’s magnetic field. When these charged particles hit the atmosphere, they release electromagnetic radiation.
However, the aurorae of Jupiter are (as might be expected) far more powerful than the iridescent displays we see at home. Hundreds of gigawatts of X-ray energy released in the auroral displays of Jupiter would be powerful energy to (momentarily) feed all human energy needs.
And, oddly, there are also regular flashes of light which blaze up every half hour or so, adding another piece to this mystery of Jupiter.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/a-40-year-old-mystery-of-jupiter-may-be-solved
Upcoming guests on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion
Check out every episode of our show at: thecosmiccompanion.tv!
July 20 (s5/e3): New York Times bestselling author Earl Swift, author of Across the Airless Wilds, the first major history of NASA’s lunar buggy.
July 27 (s5/e4): [double episode] CHIME member Kaitlyn Shin, MIT grad student, explains fast radio bursts (FRBs)
~plus~ Dr. Stephen Kane of the Department of Earth Science at the University of California Riverside talks about private space travel, and the future of science, the climate, and the human race. ~just added~
August 3 (s5/e5): Teaching science to children with Stephanie Ryan, author of Let’s Learn Chemistry.
August 10 (s5/e6):~just announced~ Dr. Jonathan Lunine, astronomer at Cornell, tells us about the volcanoes of Venus!
August 17 (s5/e7): Geoff Notkin, host of Meteorite Men on the Science Channel and president of the National Space Society, talks meteorites.
Remember - VIP members see every episode of this show a day early! Plans start at just $5 a month - subscribe today!
For more details on space and astronomy news, please visit: thecosmiccompanion.net or thecosmiccompanion.com.
Watch every episode of Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion at: thecosmiccompanion.tv.
Thanks for reading, donating, and sharing!
- James