Electron acceleration theory applicable on Jupiter

With all the discussions on waves and electrons and radiation we've been having the past several weeks, I found this article to be quite interesting. It says that scientists have discovered that "Radio waves accelerate electrons within Jupiter's magnetic field in the same way as they do on Earth." Dr Richard Horne says, "We've shown before that very low frequency radio waves can accelerate electrons in the Earth's magnetic field, but we have now shown that exactly the same theory works on Jupiter, where the magnetic field is 20,000 times stronger than the Earth's and the composition of the atmosphere is very different. This is the ultimate test of our theory." The significance of this?: "Understanding how electrons are accelerated will help scientists make better predictions of when satellites are at risk of damage by high-energy charged particles."

Furthermore more as the article explains, "The discovery also has other scientific implications for Jupiter -- it overturns a theory that has held sway for more than 30 years. According to Dr Horne, 'For more than 30 years it was thought that the electrons are accelerated as a result of transport towards Jupiter, but now we show that gyro-resonant wave acceleration is a very important step that acts in concert. Once the electrons are accelerated, they are transported closer to the planet and emit intense synchrotron radiation out into interplanetary space. Our theory provides the missing step to explain this high intensity radiation from Jupiter, which was first detected on Earth more than 50 years ago.' The paper 'Gyro-resonant electron acceleration at Jupiter', is published in Nature Physics on 9 March 2008."

Click here for the link to the full article.