The planet Jupiter has a strong magnetic field which traps and holds very
fast moving electrons. These electrons
radiate radio waves producing the large extended features beyond the
planet's disk seen in the VLA picture of Jupiter.
The electrons and magnetic field outside of Jupiter's atmosphere form a
region very similar to the Earth's Van Allen
radiation belt. Optical emission from Jupiter arises only from the planet
disk itself, because the relativistic particles
are not energetic enough to emit in the optical spectrum. The gas in the
atmosphere of the planet itself also produces
radio emission.
A 3-dimensional mapping of Jupiters radiation belts by the
Australian Telescopes Compact Array can be found
from Dr. R. Saults webpage
at
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/solarsys/jupiter/misc/jup95l.outer.mpeg.
Investigator(s): I. de Pater
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Telescope
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VLA
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Date of Observation
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1981-05-22
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Type of Observation
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Continuum Observations
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Band
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L
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Wavelength
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20 cm
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Frequency
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1.4 GHz
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Technical Caption
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Observing run - 1981 May at the VLA, B-configuration using about 27
antennas.
Integration time - 15 minutes.
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