"Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory his team took the most detailed images ever of Jupiter at X-ray wavelengths, and they discovered an auroral "hot spot" that periodically spews out high-energy pulses every 45 minutes.

The origin of this X-ray heartbeat has left theorists scrambling to determine its cause."

"A pulsating hot spot of X-rays has been discovered in the polar regions of Jupiter's upper atmosphere by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Previous theories cannot explain either the pulsations or the location of the hot spot, prompting scientists to search for a new process to produce Jupiter's X-rays."

"One possibility is that heavy ions among the particles flowing out from the Sun as the solar wind are captured in the outer regions of Jupiter's magnetic field, then accelerated and directed toward its magnetic pole. Once captured, the ions would bounce back and forth in the magnetic field from pole to pole in an oscillating motion that might explain the pulsations."

Read on at Chandra & Sky and Telescope