Recently was televised a documentary "UNIVERSE" which the subject of interest was the Planet Jupiter. It was on a certain well known cable TV channel and/or satellite TV channel.

The documentary was very well done. Nice animations and real photos of Jupiter.

But the part about being able to hear Jupiter on your car's AM radio........

Radio frequencies below 2000 KHz (2 MHz) generally do not make it through the atmosphere to ground level. Sorry. Its very rare. AM Radio starts at 530 KHz (0.53 MHz) and ends at 1710 KHz (1.7 MHz). You are NOT going to hear Jupiter on your car's AM radio tuned to 710 or 1500, just for example.

There is a place in Australia where 2 MHz will -on occasion- reach the ground and a giant radio telescope is set up to hear signals from space, but it is not for listening to Jupiter.

The hard fact is that you will NOT hear Jupiter on your car's AM radio!

Having studied the radio static on the AM radio band intensely over the years (for possible lightning detection uses) no one here has ever heard any goofy musical static sound on the AM radio, even on clear days, that sounds like those sounds heard in the TV documentary.

SO, if you -really- want to hear real Jupiter sounds on your radio you will need a radio that tunes between 20 MHz to 45 MHz. This is in the top part of the shortwave band and the VHF-low band.

If you have ever listened to CB radio (27.000 MHz) and heard the swishing buzzing sound when no one at all is talking - that's Jupiter!!

Try 25.000 MHz to 26.000 MHz, or 29.700 MHz - 30.000 MHz.

Jupiter is currently high in the sky at around midnight in the summer.

You can also hear Jupiter on your FM VHF low public-service band scanner radio between 30 MHz to 45 MHz. 37.5 MHz to 38.5 MHz is supposed to be set aside for Radio Astronomy and should be clear of talk. The signals are hearable as a buzzing noise that moves around in frequency (slides through the radio band, not staying on any one channel).

Even though FM is not the preferred mode for radio astronomy, Jupiter is different and can be heard easily and the frequency-modulated (FM) components of the Jupiter signals are heard in the VHF-Low band at 30 MHz to 40 MHz.

21.850 to 22.100 MHz is also set aside for radio astronomy.

@ 25.500 to 25.900 MHz is also a radio astronomy band.

Jupiter signals are not "crystal controlled", or stable in frequency, rather they slide and drift through the frequencies, up and down, back and forth, buzzing and sputtering and whining as they go.

Jupiter is rarely heard above 40 MHz, but you can give it a try. Higher energies produce higher radio frequencies.

Jupiter is not a big radio transmitter that is always "ON-THE-AIR". Signals are generated by interactions of Jupiter's moons (and their magnetic fields) with Jupiter's super strong magnetic field and the quality of the solar wind plays an important part too.

Energetic electrons trapped in the magnetic fields will move in a spiral (circular) pattern producing "synchroton" radiation or decameter waves, radio waves around 15 meters to 6 meters long.

Some days Jupiter is quiet. Other days Jupiter is very active. You will have to listen to your radio!

Orion Telescopes has many telescopes that you look at Jupiter with. There is also software that works like a virtual night sky (or even day sky) that tells where the planets are in the sky at any time past or present or future.

Remember you can do radio astronomy in the daytime!

Be careful if tuning between 2 MHz to about 20 MHz as there are many man-made sounds and a few atmospheric radars, etc that sound "out of this world", but are not....

Try building a 3-element directional "beam" antenna and mount it so that it points directly at Jupiter for ultimate maximum signal detection, though many signals from Jupiter are so strong that only a 36 inch whip antenna is all that's needed!

See the "Amateur Radio Handbook" or the ARRL web site for antenna plans you can modify for your individual Jupiter listening channel.

See these web sites for more info:

http://www.radiosky.com/rjcentral.html

http://www.jupiterradio.com/jove-emission.php

http://jupiter.kochi-ct.jp/cg/

http://www.jupiterradio.com/

Happy Regards,

STORMWISE.COM