Ivan Seeking
Mar9-04, 12:10 AM
Astronomers have gotten a good look at X-rays from the ringed planet Saturn, and they're puzzled by the results that defy current theory.
The image, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, shows the X-rays are concentrated near Saturn's equator. X-rays from Jupiter, however, are concentrated mostly near the poles.
In results released today, Chandra observed Saturn for about 20 hours last April. The spectrum, or distribution with energy of the X-rays, was found to be very similar to that of X-rays from the Sun.
"This indicates that Saturn's X-ray emission is due to the scattering of solar X-rays by Saturn's atmosphere," said Jan-Uwe Ness, of the University of Hamburg in Germany. "It's a puzzle, since the intensity of Saturn's X-rays requires that Saturn reflects X-rays fifty times more efficiently than the Moon."
The observed 90 megawatts of X-ray power from Saturn's equatorial region is roughly consistent with previous observations of the X-radiation from Jupiter's equatorial region. This suggests that both giant, gaseous planets reflect solar X-rays at unexpectedly high rates. Further observations of Jupiter will be needed to test this possibility [continued]
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/xray_saturn_040308.html
The image, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, shows the X-rays are concentrated near Saturn's equator. X-rays from Jupiter, however, are concentrated mostly near the poles.
In results released today, Chandra observed Saturn for about 20 hours last April. The spectrum, or distribution with energy of the X-rays, was found to be very similar to that of X-rays from the Sun.
"This indicates that Saturn's X-ray emission is due to the scattering of solar X-rays by Saturn's atmosphere," said Jan-Uwe Ness, of the University of Hamburg in Germany. "It's a puzzle, since the intensity of Saturn's X-rays requires that Saturn reflects X-rays fifty times more efficiently than the Moon."
The observed 90 megawatts of X-ray power from Saturn's equatorial region is roughly consistent with previous observations of the X-radiation from Jupiter's equatorial region. This suggests that both giant, gaseous planets reflect solar X-rays at unexpectedly high rates. Further observations of Jupiter will be needed to test this possibility [continued]
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/xray_saturn_040308.html