Events

Speaker: Chi Yan, Research Associate, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics

Host: Krista Soderlund

Title: Curious Planetary Dynamos: Insights from Saturn and Jupiter

Abstract: Over the decades, space missions have revealed that many planets and moons have, or once had, their own magnetic fields. These fields originate deep within the planets’ interiors through a self-sustained dynamo process, driven by complex motions of electrically conducting fluids in the presence of existing magnetic fields. Numerical simulations indicate that dynamo action is sensitive to variations in interior structure (e.g., helium rain) and boundary conditions (e.g., thermal perturbations). Therefore, diagnosing the effects of hypothesized structures and conditions is essential for comparing with observational data of planetary magnetic fields, thus providing information on their interior structures. Using Saturn and Jupiter as case studies, we can explore how their magnetic fields provide insight into the structures and dynamics of their deep interiors.