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A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
Published on: December 22, 2018
Using Jupiter's gravitational field to probe the Jovian convective dynamo
Dali Kong1,2, Keke Zhang2,3, Gerald Schubert4
1Key Laboratory of Planetary Sciences, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China.
Abstract:
Convective motion in the deep metallic hydrogen region of Jupiter is believed to generate its magnetic field, the strongest in the solar system. The amplitude, structure and depth of the convective motion are unknown. A promising way of probing the Jovian convective dynamo is to measure its effect on the external gravitational field, a task to be soon undertaken by the Juno spacecraft. We calculate the gravitational signature of non-axisymmetric convective motion in the Jovian metallic hydrogen region and show that with sufficiently accurate measurements it can reveal the nature of the deep convection.
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