Washington-Sana
A recent study by scientists at the University of California's Mullard Space Science Laboratory has discovered the mystery of Jupiter's auroras and how it produces an amazing burst of X-rays every few minutes as lights of various colors appear like the aurora borealis on Earth.
According to the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, the scientists were able to solve the 40-year-old mystery, as they found out that these lights are caused by periodic vibrations in the magnetic field lines of the planet in its magnetosphere, which in turn creates waves of plasma.
The researchers showed that the plasma waves then send heavy ionic particles along the magnetic field lines until they collide with the planet's atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of X-rays and forming a diverse aurora.
Researcher Dr. William Dunn said: "Jupiter has been producing X-ray auroras for four decades, but without knowing how this happened until today, knowing that they are only produced when ions collided with the planet's atmosphere."
A similar phenomenon occurs on Earth, where the Northern Lights creates this, but Jupiter is much more powerful, releasing hundreds of gigawatts of energy.