A Planet-Sized Heatwave Has Been Found in Jupiter's Atmosphere

A heat wave the size of 10 Earths has been found in Jupiter.

It traveled at speeds up to 2,400 meters per second away from the Jovian north pole.

One of the more puzzling mysteries about our Solar System's biggest planet is why it's so hot.

It's the permanent Auroras that flicker at Jupiter's poles that could provide the extra energy to heat the gas giant to temperatures way beyond what we expect.

The first maps of Jupiter's upper atmosphere were produced last year.

Thanks to these maps, we were able to demonstrate that Jupiter's Auroras could explain these temperatures.

Around 50 years ago, there was a hint that there was something going on in Jupiter.

Jupiter is five times as far away from the Sun as Earth is. It only gets 4% of the solar radiation that reaches Earth.

It should have an average temperature of - 73 degrees Celsius. It is much higher than can be accounted for by solar heating alone.

The first heat maps, obtained by O'Donoghue and his colleagues and published last year, pointed to a solution.

The solar system's most powerful auroras are invisible to the human eye. The heating of our own atmosphere is not caused by the Auroras here on Earth.

Earth's atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's because of the interaction between charged particles and magnetic fields. They're also very strange. Powerful solar winds blow in particles that create the Earth'sAuroras. They're dependent on that random input.

The most volcanic object in the Solar System, Io, is the source of Jupiter'sAuroras. It rains into the atmosphere from the torus of plasma around Jupiter.

Is it voil? The previous heat maps of Jupiter showed a connection between the two areas.

Then it became more interesting. O'Donoghue and his colleagues observed that the contribution of Io doesn't mean that there isn't an Auroral contribution.

A dense solar wind slammed into Jupiter as they collected observations. The team noticed an enhancement to the heating of the sky.

The heat wave that rolled down towards the equator was caused by hot gas expanding and spilling out of the Auroral Oval.

This would deliver a lot of heat to the Jovian atmosphere.

O'Donoghue says that the heat wave events represent an additional source of energy.

These findings add to our knowledge of Jupiter's upper-atmospheric weather and climate, and are a great help in trying to solve the energy crisis that plagues research into the giant planets.

There are other planets in the Solar System that are not as hot as Jupiter is. The planets are all hundreds of degrees hotter than the sun can heat.

This finding is an avenue for exploration that could lead to a solution to the puzzle.

They presented their findings at the congress.