Physical Sciences: Fine Structure of the Jupiter Radio Bursts

Abstract

SHORT pulses with a time scale of milliseconds and fractions of a millisecond have been observed in the radio emissions of Jupiter at wave frequencies near 20 MHz since 1956 (refs. 1 and 2). Little is known about these “S” bursts, however, although it has been established³ that their occurrence depends strongly on the orbital position of the satellite Io. Further, Gordon and Warwick⁴ were able to show from a small set of observations that the bursts may have a relatively narrow radio frequency bandwith (<50 kHz) and that their centre frequency may change rapidly with time at the rate 25–35 MHz s⁻¹, at least near 26 MHz.