Force imbalance between Jupiter’s ionosphere and magnetosphere leads to wave generation to release this stress, but the waves also accelerate particles, causing aurora and heating.
planetary atmospheres
Posted inNews
Could Life Be Floating in Venus’s Clouds?
If present, microbes could explain evolving patterns in the planet’s atmosphere when observed in ultraviolet light.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Oxygen Neutral Cloud Surrounding Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon
Japan’s Hisaki satellite takes measurements of faint oxygen emissions from Io.
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Solar Flare Caused Increased Oxygen Loss from Mars’s Atmosphere
Measurements by a Mars-orbiting spacecraft indicated heating and chemistry changes in the planet’s atmosphere following an extreme solar eruption last year.
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New Juno Data Reveal Four Key Secrets of Jupiter
Deep clouds, polar storms, lopsided gravity, and a uniformly rotating interior demonstrate that the gas giant plays by different rules than Earth.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Earth-like Oscillations Detected in Saturn’s Stratosphere
By comparing Cassini observations spanning ten years, Saturn’s equatorial oscillation is shown to have similarities to Earth’s Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and Semi-Annual Oscillation.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Curiosity Spies Shifting Sands on Mars
Images from the rover’s pioneering encounter with sand dunes on Mars constrain wind speeds required to move sand in the thin Martian atmosphere.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Huge Storms Disrupted Jupiter’s Fastest Jet Stream in 2016
Recurrent jet stream disturbances provide glimpses of what lies beneath the gas giant’s thick upper cloud cover.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Spacecraft Returns Its First Data on Martian Solar Irradiance
Scientists demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the mathematical model used to calculate solar irradiance using measurements from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN).
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The Curious Case of Titan’s Missing Clouds
Two instruments, one region on Titan: One instrument saw clouds, the other didn't—what's going on?