Jupiter an electric generator that never shuts off

[HysteryDiagnosis]

Auroras seen at Jupiters poles... always on, generated by millions of volts.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/29mar_bigauroras.htm

March 29, 2007: So you thought Northern Lights were big in Alaska? "That's nothing," says Randy Gladstone of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "Jupiter has auroras bigger than our entire planet."

Last month, Gladstone and colleagues used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to capture this picture:



Jupiter's hyper-auroras never stop. "We see them every time we look," says Gladstone. You don't see auroras in Alaska every time you look, yet on Jupiter the Northern Lights always seem to be "on."

Gladstone explains the difference: On Earth, the most intense auroras are caused by solar storms. An explosion on the sun hurls a billion-ton cloud of gas in our direction, and a few days later, it hits. Charged particles rain down on the upper atmosphere, causing the air to glow red, green and purple. On Jupiter, however, the sun is not required. "Jupiter is able to generate its own lights," says Gladstone.

The process begins with Jupiter's spin: The giant planet turns on it axis once every 10 hours and drags its planetary magnetic field around with it. As any science hobbyist knows, spinning a magnet is a great way to generate a few volts—it's the basic principle of DC motors. Jupiter's spin produces 10 million volts around its poles.

"Jupiter's polar regions are crackling with electricity," says Gladstone, "and this sets the stage for non-stop auroras."

[Cha]

1. I love the Planet Jupiter..thanks

for this article and the pic.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Punch and Judy Cha Cha Cha..... something from childhood I'm

pretty sure... the article describes a pulsar inside Jupiter's northern auroras... that definitely has them scratching their heads at this point. Glad you liked it, waiting for the flack from the flat earth people.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. I have great admiration for Jupiter

It's there, looking out for the puny, rocky planets of the inner solar system, using its gravitational field to draw comets & sizable asteroids away from a possible collision course. If Jupiter wants to show off with fancy lights, I suppose it's earned the right.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Personification of an "inanimate object".... excellent and well

received. :)

[Uncle Joe]

5. Fascinating.

Thanks for the thread, HysteryDiagnosis.:thumbsup:

[asdjrocky]

6. You are bringing some seriously cool shit today.

Thanks!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. I intend to build upon the idea that the universe is most likely guided

more by magnetism and flowing currents of plasma than it is by the incredibly weak force known as gravity. The magnetic force of attraction and repulsion is 10 to the 39 times stronger than gravity...that's something not to be taken lightly.

[asdjrocky]

8. And why is gravity so weak?

Is it because it is shared among all the other universes out there?

I'll be the first to admit that all of this stuff is waaaay over this high school drop outs head, but I love looking at the pics and listening to smart people talk about it.

Thanks again.

[Birthmark]

9. P.U. What smells like Alfven?

:)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

10. Maddening isn't it. On edit to add....

>> The plasma universe may be eternal and infinite, directly contradicting the Big bang model. In this picture, swirling streams of electrons and ions form filaments that span vast regions of space. Where pairs of these filaments interact the particles gain energy and at narrow “pinch” regions produce the entire range of galaxy types as well as the full spectrum of cosmic electromagnetic radiation. Thus galaxies must lie along filaments, as they are observed to do on a large scale. The bulk of the filaments are optically invisible from a distance, much like the related Birkeland currents that reach from the Sun and cause auroras on Earth. —Credit: A. Peratt, Plasma Cosmology, 1992.

[alfredo]

11. No, that's teen spirit mixed with some flop sweat and zit cream.

[truedelphi]

12. Very interesting concepts.

Also, I have heard that Jupiter reflects some two and a half times the amount of sunlight it receives. I think I read about that some thirty years ago, and I also think IIRC that scientists didn't know how to explain that phenomena.

But maybe it can be explained in part by the magnetism?

I have no idea so I will shut up and await your reply.

PS The experiment with the fifty million volts, the radio and the bathtub resulted in my going back in time exactly 92 and a half seconds. When I returned to the present, half the hair on my head was gone and the rest was singed. So there are some kinks still to be worked out.

[old mark]

13. ...so all we need is a really long cable and we get free electricity,

right?

:rofl:

mark