Nasa uncovers source of Jupiter’s ‘energy crisis’, solving 50-year mystery

Scientists at Nasa believe they have uncovered the source of Jupiter’s “energy crisis”, solving the 50-year mystery of the planet’s unexpectedly high temperatures.

“We found that Jupiter’s intense aurora, the most powerful in the solar system, is responsible for heating the entire planet’s upper atmosphere to surprisingly high temperatures,” James O’Donoghue of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, said.

Jupiter is five times as far from the Sun as Earth is, and as such should have an average temperature of approximately negative 73C. Instead, the upper atmosphere temperature is 426C.