Two dynamos drive Jupiter's magnetic field
Max Planck Society
But how does the dynamo inside of Jupiter work? Thus, no computation correctly reproduced the strength and the form of the magnetic field as determined by space probes. The main part of the magnetic field, which looks so similar to Earth’s magnetic field, is generated deep inside the planet, where the properties no longer change so strongly, says Wicht. The jet shears the magnetic field in the east-west direction and produces a characteristic magnetic band structure in the equatorial region, says Thomas Gastine, a staff member at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Hence, two magnetic fields form, which superimpose: the Earth-like one in the deep layer of the metal-like conducting hydrogen, and the weaker band structure generated by the equatorial jet.