Scientists unravel the mystery of Jupiter, haunted for 30 years

In a new study, scientists using NASA’s NuSTAR space observatory have been able to detect the highest-energy light ever observed on Jupiter.

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Light, which is X-rays, is also the highest energy light ever seen on a planet in our solar system other than Earth.

Beautiful views of Jupiter / Photo: ESA

But this discovery is not just an incredible observation. It also helps scientists understand why NASA’s Ulysses solar mission failed to see Jupiter’s X-rays when the spacecraft flew past the planet in 1992.

The fact is that Jupiter’s auroras, which occur at the north and south poles of the planet, are created by ions emanating from the volcanic satellite Io, which are accelerated by the planet’s magnetic field towards the poles.

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Scientists suspected, and now with the help of NuSTAR observations for the first time confirmed that Io’s electrons do indeed create high-energy X-rays.

X-rays spotted on Jupiter / Photo: REUTERS

According to the researchers, Ulysses probably didn’t notice any X-rays because, due to the mechanism that causes this light, the X-rays become weaker at higher energies.

So, they suspect that in the detection range of Ulysses, Jupiter’s X-rays were too weak to be seen, according to space.com.

Earlier we wrote that the NASA probe for the first time showed what the atmosphere of Jupiter looks like in 3D. NASA’s Juno probe has made it possible to better and deeper study Jupiter’s atmosphere. Researchers have created the first 3D image of Jupiter’s atmospheric layers.