I was reading in an outdated set of books that Jupiter gives off radio waves, but it is unknown why. Is this correct that Jupiter emits radio waves, or was I reading old info? If it is known to be true, do we know the source/cause? Is it a phenomenon related to its huge mass, perhaps? - Jinx
Check out this APOD image: Radio Jupiter
I believe it has something to do with a large, black, rectangular object floating around near Jupiter.
There are several reasons why it emits radio waves. There are giant lightning storms in it’s atmosphere which are detectable. Then the sort of emissions shown in the VLA image linked to by Squink are synchrotron radiation from electrons trapped in it’s magnetic field. A charged particle in such a field spirals and radiates energy in the form of radio waves. (The name comes about because the same process happens in circular particle accelerators, including sychrotrons.) Jupiter has a huge, strong magnetic field around it, hence this is a big effect. The planet also radiates some radio waves simply because it’s relatively hot.
All these different processes give rise to distinct types of radio emission. Thus the synchrotron radiation follows the extent of the field around the planet, rather than the planet itself as the other two do.
Apart from the Sun, Jupiter’s actually the “brightest” radio object in the sky.