Finding something as minute as these changes in something so immense as Jupiters magnetic field was a challenge, having a baseline of close-up observations over four decades long provided us with just enough data to confirm that Jupiters magnetic field does indeed change over time.

Kimee Moore

Categorized in : Science

It is incredible that one narrow magnetic hot spot, the Great Blue Spot, could be responsible for almost all of Jupiters secular variation, but the numbers bear it out, with this new understanding of magnetic fields, during future science passes we will begin to create a planetwide map of Jupiters [magnetic] variation. It may also have applications for scientists studying Earths magnetic field, which still contains many mysteries to be solved.