Auroras on Jupiter | Mystery of the Occurrence of X-ray Auroras on Jupiter
Mystery of the Occurrence of X-ray Auroras on Jupiter
It is known that ‘polar light’ or ‘Auroras’ are found near both poles of the planet Jupiter and X-rays are emitted from this polar light.
Till now all the scientists were quite surprised about the mysteries behind these X-ray emissions. Now, NASA scientists have solved this puzzle by combining data from the ‘Juno mission’ and the ‘XMM-Newton mission’ of the European Space Agency.
Reason behind this incident:
Auroras are caused by ions crashing into planet Jupiter’s atmosphere. These ions are ‘surfing’ the electromagnetic waves in Jupiter’s magnetic field to enter the planet’s atmosphere.
About Juno Mission:
The Juno spacecraft mission was launched in 2011 to study the structure and origin of Jupiter. And it is the first spacecraft after Galileo to orbit Jupiter.
The XMM-Newton Mission
- The ‘XMM-Newton mission’ is also known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission, and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission.
- ‘XMM-Newton’ is an ‘X-ray space observatory’ launched by the ‘European Space Agency’ in December 1999.
- It is a part of the ‘Horizon 2000’ program of the European Space Agency.
Source – The Hindu
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