BBC_Earth_Singapore_2017

FIVE THINGS WE’VE JUST

FOUND OUT ABOUT

JUPITER

NASA’s Juno mission, which was
launched in 2011 and has been in orbit
around Jupiter since July 2016, has just
sent back its first science results. Here
are the key findings...

1. IT’S GOT A STRANGE
   MAGNETIC FIELD
   Jupiter’s magnetic field is stronger than
   expected at 7.8 Gauss – that’s 10 times
   stronger than any magnetic field found
   on Earth. It’s also quite uneven,
   suggesting that it may be mostly
   generated quite close to the surface.


2. THE POLES ARE STORMY,
   AND QUITE DIFFERENT FROM
   EACH OTHER
   Juno scientists found that, towards
   Jupiter’s poles, regular bands of gases
   give way to chaotic, swirling storms.
   What’s not yet known is the mechanism
   that drives these storms, or why this
   activity is not the same at both poles.


3. JUPITER’S ‘NORTHERN
   LIGHTS’ AREN’T LIKE
   EARTH’S
   Just like Earth, Jupiter is home to auroral
   activity caused by interaction between its
   upper atmosphere and the solar wind.
   However, the exact processes involved
   in their formation appear to be different
   on Jupiter than on Earth.


4. THE COLOURED ‘BELTS’ GO
   DEEPER THAN EXPECTED
   For years, the scientific consensus has
   been that the coloured bands visible on
   Jupiter’s surface represent only the
   planet’s cloud tops. Juno, however, has
   found that some of these bands
   penetrate at least 350km into the planet

• and potentially even deeper.

5. THERE’S STILL A LOT
   MORE TO LEARN
   “We knew going in that Jupiter would
   throw us some curves,” said Juno

principal investigator Scott Bolton from

the Southwest Research Institute in San

Antonio, Texas. “But now we are finding

that Jupiter can throw the heat, as well

as knuckleballs and sliders. There is so

much going on that we didn’t expect,

that we have had to begin to think of this

as a whole new Jupiter.”

SPACE

IN NUMBERS

2060

50.7

PER CENT

The year that AI will be able

to do everything better than

humans, according to a survey

of experts carried out by the

Machine Intelligence Research

Institute in California.

4,600

KELVIN

The surface temperature of

planet KELT-9b. This is the

highest temperature ever

recorded on a planet.

The amount of UK power

supplied by wind, solar, hydro

and wood pellets on 7 June –

the first time more energy was

generated by renewables than

fossil fuels.