Two dynamos drive Jupiter’s magnetic field

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Two dynamos drive Jupiter’s magnetic field

Max Planck researchers use computer simulations to penetrate deep into the interior of the giant planet

Superlatives are the trademark of the planet Jupiter. The magnetic field at the top edge of the cloud surrounding the largest member of the solar system is around ten times stronger than Earth’s, and is by far the largest magnetosphere around a planet. Just why this field has a similar structure to that of our own planet although the interiors of the two celestial objects have a completely different structure, has mystified researchers for a long time. With the aid of the most detailed computer simulations to date, a team headed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen has now succeeded in explaining the origin of the magnetic field deep inside the gaseous giant.

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