Where does the radiation around Jupiter come from?

[Leovinus]

I assume it's the same thing that creates the Van Allen belts around Earth, except on a grander scale. I read on another thread that a floating city in Jupiter's atmosphere is impractical because of the high radiation. We don't have that kind of radiation problem in our atmosphere or even in LEO. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[yevaud]

Well, the outward mechanism is the same: high-energy electrons trapped in Jupiter's magnetic field, and emitting Synchroton radiation.<br /><br />There are also interactions we don't have here taking place. For example, it takes several days for the solar wind to crawl past/around Jupiter's magnetosphere, during which time Jupiter has rotated several times. Though not yet seen, it's suspected this makes for a long, chaotic, "twisty" magnetotail.<br /><br />And yeah, the Gallileo probe found that there is a radiation belt that extends from 650 million K outwards, right down to the top of Jupiter's atmosphere, and it's many times as strong as the Van Allen belt.<br /><br />The major controversy is exactly how Jupiter produces it's magnetic field. It doesn't have a molten dynamo as does Earth, so how is it produced? Is this an indication of a metallic hydrogen core that does the same thing as ours? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[Kalstang]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>I read on another thread that a floating city in Jupiter's atmosphere is impractical because of the high radiation.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Not to mention the extremely high winds. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#ffff00"><p><font color="#3366ff">I have an answer for everything...you may not like the answer or it may not satisfy your curiosity..but it will still be an answer.</font> <br /><font color="#ff0000">"Imagination is more important then Knowledge" ~Albert Einstien~</font> <br /><font color="#cc99ff">Guns dont kill people. People kill people</font>.</p></font><p><font color="#ff6600">Solar System</font></p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

As long as the winds aren't turbulent it doesn't matter how fast the winds are going if you are riding in them. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

Juiter is a failed star.Failed stars radiate.They cant reach themonuclar fusion ,but that is no bar to radiate.Brown dwarfs also radiate.

 

[Leovinus]

I thought radiation from stars was from fusion. Thus your statement that Jupiter radiates even though it isn't large enough for fusion doesn't make sense to me. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[majornature]

You know, I thought about that. Looking at the size of Jupiter it could have been a star. For one, it doesn't depend on the sun for heat...it generates its own heat source.<br /><br />I think the radiation around Jupiter from the core or through its whirling storms. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="2" color="#14ea50"><strong><font size="1">We are born.  We live.  We experiment.  We rot.  We die.  and the whole process starts all over again!  Imagine That!</font><br /><br /><br /><img id="6e5c6b4c-0657-47dd-9476-1fbb47938264" style="width:176px;height:247px" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/14/4/6e5c6b4c-0657-47dd-9476-1fbb47938264.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" width="276" height="440" /><br /></strong></font> </div>

 

[ittiz]

Jupiter heats itself because the gas in it hasn't finished compressing yet. The process of compression generates heat.

 

[search]

Jupiter radiation belt<br />Since Jupiter has no solid surface, no human will ever walk on the planet. In fact, any attempt to visit the Jovian system will require heavy shielding. Jupiter's magnetic field captures electrically charged particles from the Sun and from the planet's volcanic moon Io. These particles create strong radiation belts. Around Io's orbit, the radiation belts are powerful enough to kill an unprotected human in a few minutes. That adds one more item to the list of Jupiter's superlatives: deadliest radiation belts.<br /><br />Jovian Magnetosphere<br /><br />Jupiter has a very large and powerful magnetosphere. In fact, if one could see Jupiter's magnetic field from Earth, it would appear five times as large as the full moon in the sky despite being so much farther away. The magnetic field is generated by eddy currents in Jupiter's metallic hydrogen core. This magnetic field collects a large flux of particle radiation in Jupiter's radiation belts, as well as producing a dramatic gas torus and flux tube associated with Io. Jupiter's magnetosphere is the largest planetary structure in the solar system. [8]<br />The Pioneer probes confirmed that Jupiter's enormous magnetic field is 10 times stronger than Earth's and contains 20,000 times as much energy. The sensitive instruments aboard found that the Jovian magnetic field's "north" magnetic pole is at the planet’s geographic south pole, with the axis of the magnetic field tilted 11 degrees from the Jovian rotation axis and offset from the center of Jupiter in a manner similar to the axis of the Earth's field. The Pioneers measured the bow shock of the Jovian magnetosphere to the width of 26 million kilometres (16 million miles), with the magnetic tail extending beyond Saturn’s orbit.<br />The data showed that the magnetic field fluctuates rapi

 

[yevaud]

Well, that's a real problem, Eddie. You see, they are just plain not certain if there <i>is</i> indeed a degenerate metallic Hydrogen core present. There's little (yet) evidence for it, and a few other (apparently) plausible mechanisms. Or so I was informed years ago. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Current theories in planet formation call for a large rocky core to form, then the accretion of gas begins. <br /><br /><br /><br />http://library.thinkquest.org/28327/html/universe/solar_system/planets/jupiter/interior/core_of_jupiter.html<br />To understand the interior of Jupiter is currently very hard to determine and is very indirect. This is due to the fact that atmospheric space probes can only go a depth of 150 km below the surface. Jupiter probably has a rocky core deep in the planet amounting to around 10 to 15 Earth-masses. This core is surrounded by a large quantity of hydrogen. However, unlike on the surface, this hydrogen is liquid, not gas. This is because at great depths in the planet where pressure exceeds 4 million bars, hydrogen atoms ionize, resulting in elements consisting only of protons. This process converts hydrogen into a metallic state and is then able to conduct electricity and produce magnetic fields. Thus Jupiter has one of the largest magnetospheres in the solar system, extending beyond the scope of Jupiter and into other planets. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[yevaud]

Yes, that is one of the other very plausible alternatives under investigation. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[search]

I am glad you enjoy it.

 

[dragon04]

I was the one who remarked about radiation in the other thread. I wasn't specific enough.<br /><br />No data I've seen would indicate that radiation would be an impediment to a floating city in the clouds of Jupiter, but the intensity of energetic radiation <b>getting</b> to the clouds would certainly be lethal.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[yevaud]

I'd suspect that even within the atmosphere, there'd be secondary radiation that would be <i>troublesome</i>. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[search]

How about an Atmospheric pressure of 70 kPa?<br /><br />That seems like enough the deter the bravest ballon pilots...