Canadians across the country mark Remembrance Day
Today Canadians will remember and honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
A new study led by researchers based in the U.K. and China has figured out how Jupiter produces its own version of the aurora borealis, finally solving a 40-year-old mystery.
Four decades ago, astronomers discovered that Jupiter produces bursts of X-ray flares every few minutes. Much like the northern lights and southern lights on Earth, Jupiter鈥檚 X-ray auroras would occur at the planet鈥檚 north and south poles.
The research team that was led by University College London and the Chinese Academy of Sciences published their findings in the journal Scientific Advances on Friday. They relied on images taken from NASA鈥檚 Juno satellite orbiting Jupiter, as well as X-ray measurements from the XMM-Newton space telescope that orbits Earth.
"We can never visit black holes, as they are beyond space travel, but Jupiter is on our doorstep. With the arrival of the satellite Juno into Jupiter's orbit, astronomers now have a fantastic opportunity to study an environment that produces X-rays up close,鈥 said co-author Graziella Branduardi-Raymont in a news release.
The researchers found that the periodic vibrations in the planet鈥檚 magnetic field were creating waves of plasma. Plasma refers to gas that has become electrically charged through a process known as ionization. The gas becomes ionized from colliding into other particles around Jupiter鈥檚 environment, which causes the gas molecules to lose electrons.
Researchers say the waves of plasma send ionized sulfur and oxygen particles 鈥渟urfing" along the magnetic field lines toward鈥檚 Jupiter鈥檚 poles. These particles actually originate from volcanos on Io, one of Jupiter鈥檚 moons.
The magnetic field lines guide these particles towards Jupiter鈥檚 poles, where they crash into the atmosphere. The impact of this crash produces vivid bursts of X-rays that create this aurora effect, releasing hundreds of gigawatts of energy.
"We have seen Jupiter producing X-ray aurora for four decades, but we didn't know how this happened. We only knew they were produced when ions crashed into the planet's atmosphere,鈥 said co-lead author William Dunn.
鈥淣ow we know these ions are transported by plasma waves - an explanation that has not been proposed before, even though a similar process produces Earth's own aurora.鈥濃
On Earth, magnetic field lines also guide ionized particles towards the north and south poles. When these particles collide with Earth鈥檚 atmosphere, that鈥檚 when we see bright lights. However, unlike Jupiter, the particles that form Earth鈥檚 auroras originate from solar winds.
Co-lead author Zhonghua Yao says similar phenomena could potentially be present on other planets.
"Now we have identified this fundamental process, there is a wealth of possibilities for where it could be studied next,鈥 he said in a news release. 鈥淪imilar processes likely occur around Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and probably exoplanets as well, with different kinds of charged particles 'surfing' the waves."
Today Canadians will remember and honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
Two nephews of the beloved Harry R. Hamilton share stories about his life and legacy.
Canada has announced changes to their visitor visa policies, effectively ending the automatic issuance of 10-year multiple-entry visas, according to new rules outlined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says that Tom Homan, his former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration.
If Earth's astronomical observatories were to pick up a signal from outer space, it would need an all-hands-on-deck effort to decipher the extraterrestrial message. A father-daughter team of citizen scientists recently deciphered the message. Its meaning, however, remains a mystery.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 Dobbs decision eliminated the federal right to abortion, miscarriage management has become trickier and in some cases, deadlier.
The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.
Rod Ashby was desperate to find his wife Kim Ashby after their newly built home in Elk Park, North Carolina, was swept away by Hurricane Helene鈥檚 floodwaters in late September and she went missing.
It was the first time that Canadian UN peacekeeper Michelle Angela Hamelin said she came up against the raw emotion of a people so exasperated with their country's predicament.
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.