Scientists have discovered something weird about Jupiter's magnetic field

Each planet in our solar system has its own weird quirk — Venus' poisonous atmosphere, Saturn's rings, or Mars' potential to harbor human life. In a new study published in the journal Nature, scientists have discovered something strange about Jupiter as well.
Jupiter, like Earth, has a magnetic field. But unlike Earth's, Jupiter's magnetic field isn't relatively symmetrical. Instead, its northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere have magnetic fields that look nothing alike, Gizmodo reported. Where Earth's magnetic field points pretty much straight up and down, like a bar magnet, Jupiter's magnetic field is more like "someone took a bar magnet, bent it in half, and splayed it at both ends," Science News explained.
"It's a baffling puzzle," said the study's lead author, Harvard Ph.D. student Kimberly Moore. But it might have something to do with the different compositions of Earth and Jupiter. On Earth, the magnetic field is created by the liquid iron that composes part of our planet's core — but we have no idea what Jupiter's core is made of, or if it has anything to do with the planet's magnetic field. Instead, scientists theorize that Jupiter's magnetic field is caused by the presence of metallic hydrogen among its gaseous structure, Sky & Telescope reported.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scientists still don't know for sure what's causing the strange unevenness of Jupiter's magnetic field, or why it's "so complicated in the northern hemisphere but so simple in the southern hemisphere," Moore said. But they theorize that varying concentrations of this metallic hydrogen might be the underlying cause.
NASA's Juno orbiter, which collected the data used in this study, will continue to monitor the gas giant until 2022. Read more about the project at Gizmodo.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
The state of Britain's Armed Forces
The Explainer Geopolitical unrest and the unreliability of the Trump administration have led to a frantic re-evaluation of the UK's military capabilities
By The Week UK
-
Anti-anxiety drug has a not-too-surprising effect on fish
Under the radar The fish act bolder and riskier
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Sudoku hard: April 21, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
China accuses NSA of Winter Games cyberattacks
speed read China alleges that the U.S. National Security Agency launched cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Russian strike kills dozens in Ukraine
Speed Read The Sumy ballistic missile strike was Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
South Korea court removes impeached president
Speed Read The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law in December
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifies
speed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
Israel detains director after West Bank settler clash
speed read The director of Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' was arrested and beaten
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Turkey arrests Istanbul mayor, a top Erdogan rival
Speed Read Protests erupted in Turkey after authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
By Peter Weber, The Week US