# Radiation from Jupiter

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 5, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134 "2016-07-05T17:04:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134/1 "2016-07-05T17:04:23Z")

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I keep hearing on the news this morning that very heaviy radiation is coming from Jupiter which might endanger the recent probe. The implication is that it is radioactivity, but I don’t trust news broadcasters to understand science. Where does this radiation come from?

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**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134/2 "2016-07-05T17:21:36Z")

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IIRC, Jupiter has a strong magnetic field. It traps charged particles from the solar wind, as well as from Io’s volcanoes. The result is belts of high velocity charged particles “orbiting” the planet. There are similar belts around the Earth (the Van Allen belts), though since our magnetic field is much smaller and weaker the radiation belts aren’t nearly as massive.

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**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134/3 "2016-07-05T17:21:43Z")

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Most likely they’re referring to Jupiter’s equivalents of the [Van Allen belts.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt) The “radiation” in this case consists of high-energy electrons and protons that are trapped in the magnetic fields of the planet. The original source of most of these particles is the sun; they were originally part of the so-called “solar wind”.

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134/4 "2016-07-05T17:22:45Z")

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This wikipedia page explains it a lot better than anything you’ll find in a news report.

> **[Magnetosphere of Jupiter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere_of_Jupiter)**
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> The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the cavity created in the solar wind by the planet's magnetic field. Extending up to seven million kilometers in the Sun's direction and almost to the orbit of Saturn in the opposite direction, Jupiter's magnetosphere is the largest and most powerful of any planetary magnetosphere in the Solar System, and by volume the largest known continuous structure in the Solar System after the heliosphere. Wider and flatter than the Earth's magnetosphere, Jupiter's is stron...

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiation-from-jupiter/759134/5 "2016-07-05T17:36:26Z")

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Thanks, that is an excellent Wiki page by Jove!