Jupiter Hot Spot Makes Trouble For Theory

Chandra_115_1024

chandra_115 February 27th, 2002

Credit: NASA/CXC/SWRI/G.R.Gladstone et a

Chandra's image of Jupiter provided some major surprises to scientists who study X-rays emanating from the planet. During the 10-hour observation which allowed Jupiter to complete an entire rotation, an X-ray hot spot that pulsated every 45 minutes was discovered near the north magnetic pole. Earlier theories held that X-rays were produced when particles flowing from Jupiter's moon Io became trapped in Jupiter's magnetic field. Now it appears that the particles must come from a much more distant source, such as the Sun, to explain the observed hot spot and pulsations.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0001/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Jupiter

Distance

Universescale3
650,000,000 light years

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Magenta Chandra (HRC) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Magenta
Chandra_115_1280
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ID
115
Subject Category
Subject Name
Jupiter
Credits
NASA/CXC/SWRI/G.R.Gladstone et a
Release Date
2002-02-27
Lightyears
650,000,000
Redshift
650,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0001/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
HRC
Color Assignment
Magenta
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2000-12-18T09:54:27
Integration Time
35970
Dataset ID
1862
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-Ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
0001_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-27T16:24:18-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Universescalefull
650,000,000 light years

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