View Full Version : Big Auroras on Jupiter
kg4kww
03-30-2007, 02:53 AM
Yes you can work aurora on Jupiter.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has observed some spectacular Northern Lights on the planet Jupiter. The data may help researchers solve the mysteries of the biggest auroras in the solar system.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/29mar_bigauroras.htm?list52655
W2ILP
03-30-2007, 03:06 AM
I dunno if the color in the picture is accurate but the glow at the poles of Jupiter seem to be the same purple glow that we get by ionizing argon gas. Ionizing neon gas produces an orange glow. We learn this from the glow of the old vacuum tube voltage regulators, which depended on inert gas to regulate voltage drops. Neon and argon were used or combinations of the two. Ionization can be the result of electric charge or magnetic flux, but the threshold of when the charge can cause ionization to glow is a function of the level of radiant energy from the Sun.
w2ilp (It Looks Purple)...My argon conclusion.
kf6rdn
03-30-2007, 03:08 AM
Whoa, I thought this said big aer.. err... nevermind..
KA8NCR
03-30-2007, 03:49 AM
I saw Jupiter dance at a bachelor party with her friend Venus. Yes, those are huge auroras.
One of my favorite lines from the TV series, Cheers:
Norm: Did you see the northern lights last night?
Cliff: You mean aurora borealis.
Norm: Aurora boree-what?
Cliff: Static discharge in the atmosphere, Normy. The aurora borealis..
Carla: You're a roaring bore-ealis.
('RDN--I got it. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif)
kg4kww
03-30-2007, 03:52 PM
I suggest that you point your beams towards Jupiter and try to work those big auroras, and not the one that does nude dancing ka8ncr.
kl7aj
03-30-2007, 03:55 PM
Quote[/b] (W2ILP @ Mar. 29 2007,20:06)]I dunno if the color in the picture is accurate but the glow at the poles of Jupiter seem to be the same purple glow that we get by ionizing argon gas. #Ionizing neon gas produces an orange glow. #We learn this from the glow of the old vacuum tube voltage regulators, which depended on inert gas to regulate voltage drops. #Neon and argon were used or combinations of the two. # Ionization can be the result of electric charge or magnetic flux, but the threshold of when the charge can cause ionization to glow is a function of the level of radiant energy from the Sun.
w2ilp (It Looks Purple)...My argon conclusion.
The color can depend on the pressure. Nitrogen has many modes which can glow anything from bright white to a pale bluish green, and a rare yellow mode. Oxygen gives us blood red auroras occasionally, but sometimes an "argonny" purple.
Interestingly, at least on Earth, the Auroras are not caused by noble gases, as one might expect, but by mainly nitrogen and oxygen. There isn't enough argon or neon to see! It also gives you an idea of the energy level of the incoming particles...it takes a LOT to ionize oxygen...when you see a red aurora, it's probably a good idea to wear your tin foil helmet!
eric
kg4kww
03-30-2007, 03:57 PM
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/images/bigauroras/xray_auroras_strip.jpg
kl7aj
03-30-2007, 04:15 PM
Interestingly, one would presume, that because of Jupiter's much greater distance, the amount of solar wind arriving on the planet would be MUCH less than that of earth. This would imply that Jupiter had MUCH greater compensating factors, such as a HUGE magnetic field, to produce such auroras. Just based on free space attenuation, the UV reaching Jupiter would be at least an order of magnitude less than that of Earth, with charged particles being MINUSCULE compared to ours.
Interesting thought
Quote[/b] (kl7aj @ Mar. 30 2007,10:55)]it takes a LOT to ionize oxygen...when you see a red aurora, it's probably a good idea to wear your tin foil helmet!
I've only every seen an aurora once here in NJ, and the whole sky was red! I wasn't wearing my tin foil hat, maybe that explains some things...
kl7aj
03-30-2007, 07:50 PM
Quote[/b] (n2jso @ Mar. 30 2007,10:28)]Quote[/b] (kl7aj @ Mar. 30 2007,10:55)]it takes a LOT to ionize oxygen...when you see a red aurora, it's probably a good idea to wear your tin foil helmet!
I've only every seen an aurora once here in NJ, and the whole sky was red! #I wasn't wearing my tin foil hat, maybe that explains some things...
That could explain a LOT that happens on QRZ. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
eric
VA3SAX
03-30-2007, 08:44 PM
is that what it is...'scuse me while I go make one of them hats
kg4kww
03-30-2007, 10:26 PM
It won't help
kg4kww
03-31-2007, 02:40 AM
Do you think the Auroras on Jupiter will affect intersteller communications? Do you think they could affect communications on Earth?
N5NPO
03-31-2007, 03:01 AM
Look guys, this is another one of Halliburton's insideous experimental wepeons/machines. I am as of yet unsure exactly what it's purpose is, but you can bet it is sinister. Probably a mind control ray that can penetrate the tinfoil hat. One may have to use lead instead.
kf6rdn
03-31-2007, 03:02 AM
To go along with the lead britches.
K8MHZ
03-31-2007, 01:58 PM
Ever wonder if some of NASA's photos are 'shopped at all?
Maybe it's just me, but that is what some of the most spectacular pictures look like. The colors are almost too good to be real for one thing.
Cool if they aren't.
If you read the caption on that photo, you would have seen that the picture is from an X-ray detector superimposed on a B/W image. They were taken by a satellite orbiting the planet.
Many of the photos that we see from Hubble and the space voyaging satellites are "enhanced" to allow us to see the images more clearly. Light from "doubly ionized hydrogen" will be colored blue, and from some other element will be red, etc. Makes for a pretty picture, but our eyes would still only see the light as mainly white, just like we cannot see the seperate colors emitted by the sun unless we break it into components with a prism, or view a rainbow which disperses the light for us.
73, Jim
W2LYS
03-31-2007, 05:33 PM
Are there any auroras on Uranus?
N5NPO
03-31-2007, 05:43 PM
Quote[/b] (W2LYS @ Mar. 31 2007,10:33)]Are there any auroras on Uranus?
If there are any, then expect Haliburton to be the cause of it...
There is something sinister afoot in this solar system.
kg4kww
04-01-2007, 05:40 PM
Quote[/b] ]W2LYS--Are there any auroras on Uranus?
Maybe you should look in a mirror. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
kb2vxa
04-01-2007, 06:27 PM
Hi all,
"I've only every seen an aurora once here in NJ, and the whole sky was red!"
Yeah, I remember when Panther Lake caught fire.
"I wasn't wearing my tin foil hat, maybe that explains some things."
Nah, they're perfectly normal for Weird New Jersey, read the magazine or check it out on line.
"The color can depend on the pressure."
You're not unique in that regard.
"That could explain a LOT that happens on QRZ."
Oh, you noticed it too!
"Look guys, this is another one of Halliburton's insideous experimental wepeons/machines. I am as of yet unsure exactly what it's purpose is, but you can bet it is sinister."
You don't recognize a really big 0A2 when you see one?
"Do you think the Auroras on Jupiter will affect interstellar communications?"
Not unless the JCC drops the code.
"Are there any auroras on Uranus?"
Nah, Preparation A took care of them.
"If there are any, then expect Haliburton to be the cause of it."
Uh uh, but they are known to cause hemorrhoids.
"Maybe you should look in a mirror."
OOOoooh, now that was COLD!
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif