NASAの探査機ジュノーのデータを分析した研究者らは、木星で発生する雷の強度が地球で一般的な雷の最大100倍に達する可能性があることを突き止めた。2021年から2022年にかけてのマイクロ波観測に基づくこの発見は、この巨大ガス惑星における嵐の形成過程が地球といかに異なるかを浮き彫りにしている。
学術誌『AGU Advances』に掲載されたこの研究では、ジュノーに搭載されたマイクロ波放射計を使用し、木星の北赤道帯で嵐の活動が低減している期間中の雷による電波放出を測定した。科学者らは複数回の観測で1秒あたり平均3回の閃光を記録し、ある遭遇では206回のパルスを検出した。観測された合計613の信号のうち、エネルギーレベルは地球の雷と同等のものから100倍以上強力なものまで多岐にわたったが、観測された波長が異なるため正確な比較は依然として不透明である。
NASA's Juno spacecraft has revealed that lightning in Jupiter's storms is at least 100 times more powerful than on Earth, based on data from 2021 and 2022. The findings, published on March 20 in AGU Advances, come as the mission's future hangs in balance due to budget constraints. NASA officials are weighing whether to extend operations amid funding shortfalls.
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Researchers at Kyoto University have suggested a possible connection between solar flares and earthquakes through ionospheric disturbances. Their theoretical model indicates that electrostatic forces from space weather could influence stressed fault zones in Earth's crust. The study does not claim direct causation but highlights a potential interaction mechanism.
Scientists have found that localized dust storms on Mars can drive water vapor into the upper atmosphere, where it breaks apart and escapes into space. The discovery, based on observations from multiple Mars orbiters, challenges prior assumptions about when and how the planet loses water. Researchers link the effect to an intense regional storm during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
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Chinese researchers have successfully tested a system capable of beaming energy to multiple moving targets at once, marking another step toward an orbiting power station.
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have studied the atmosphere of TOI-199b, a rare Saturn-sized planet with temperatures around 175 degrees Fahrenheit. The findings mark the first detailed look at a temperate giant exoplanet.
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Astronomers have observed a supermassive black hole in galaxy J1007+3540 restarting powerful jets after nearly 100 million years of inactivity. The jets, distorted by intense pressure from a surrounding galaxy cluster, stretch nearly a million light-years. The findings reveal cycles of black hole activity shaping the galaxy's structure.