* Astronomy

Fifty years ago, scientists Bernard Burke and Kenneth Franklin recorded radio signals from Jupiter.

"Our identification of Jupiter as a radio source is not based directly on reasoning, but more on luck" - Kenneth Franklin, scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

The radio bursts matched up with the rotation rate of Jupiter.
By listening to the radio bursts, they were able to determine that the planet rotates once in about 10 hours.

To commemorate the discovery, the Maryland Historical Trust placed a roadside marker along River Road near the former Seneca Observatory, 20 miles northwest of Washington, D.C, in April.

It reads: "In 1955 scientists Bernard Burke and Kenneth Franklin from the Carnegie Institution of Washington accidentally discovered naturally-generated radio waves from Jupiter using a 96-acre antenna array. This discovery led to greater understanding of planetary magnetic fields and plasmas and opened a new window in our exploration of the solar system."

Jupiter produces a wide range of bursts with different sounds. The most common, called L-bursts
, last from a few tenths of a second to several seconds and sound like ocean waves breaking up on a beach.
The shorter bursts, known as S-bursts, last a few thousandths to a few hundredths of a second and sound more like popcorn popping or like a handful of pebbles thrown onto a tin roof. Both the University of Florida and the Windward Community College in Hawaii put audible versions online.