Radio Waves From Jupiter

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Radio Waves From Jupiter

• Larry Wright
• ASCI 512
• 7 October 2006

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Overview

• History of Radio Astronomy
• Radio waves discovered coming from Jupiter
• Jupiter/Io Interaction
• Decimetric Radio Emission
• Locating Jupiter visually
• Conclusion

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History

• 1933 - Karl Jansky worked for Bell Laboratories
  and built an antenna to detect static on Long
  distance phone calls
• Accidentally discovered radio waves were emitting
  from the Milky Way

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Janskys Antenna
Simple Diagram
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Followed up on Janskys 1933 Discovery

• 1937-Grote Reber built the first Radio Telescope
  in his back yard
• Awarded the Bruce Medal for his work performed as
  an amateur
• Discoveries led to birth of Radio Astronomy

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Reber Radio Telescope
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Radio Waves Discovered Coming from Jupiter

• Spring of 1955 Signals were discovered coming
  from Jupiter
• Decametric radio emissions (? 10-100 meters)
• Charged particles move through Jupiters magnetic
  field and their direction is changed
• Cyclotron emission
• 10 and 40 MHz
• never heard above 40 MHz

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Jupiter/Io Interaction

• Io enhances Jupiter's emission of decameter radio
  waves
• Io moves through the Jovian Van Allen Belts and a
  powerful current is generated between Jupiter and
  Io
• Io somehow "disturbs" the magnetic field of
  Jupiter as the field sweeps by the moon.

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Decimetric Radio Emission

• Decimetric- (? tenth of a meter since the
  wavelength of this type of radio emission is
  several tenths of a meter)
• Frequencies above 100 MHz
• emitted by extremely energetic electrons moving
  at close to the speed of light close to the
  planet near its equator
• Jupiter decimetric radio observations determined
• Jupiter's rotation period and axial tilt

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Conclusion

• History of Radio Astronomy
• Radio waves discovered coming from Jupiter
• Jupiter/Io Interaction
• Decimetric Radio Emission
• Locating Jupiter visually

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References

• http//www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Re
  ber/index.html
• http//adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003EAEJA....13161Z
• http//radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/library/sci_briefs/
  decametric.htm

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QUESTIONS?