Jupiter as mirror for the sun’s X rays
By David Shiga
Scientists have tracked down the source for the X rays that stream from Jupiter’s midriff. Rather than deriving from the planet itself, those X rays arise in the sun and are reflected by the giant planet’s atmosphere, the researchers found.
“It’s a very small proportion of the solar X rays which are reflected, but [they] can be seen by sophisticated instruments,” says study leader Anil Bhardwaj of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.