\u201cPreviously, Juno surprised us with hints that phenomena in Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere went deeper than expected,\u201d said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and lead author of the Journal Science paper on the depth of Jupiter\u2019s vortices. \u201cNow, we\u2019re starting to put all these individual pieces together and getting our first real understanding of how Jupiter\u2019s beautiful and violent atmosphere works \u2013 in 3D.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juno\u2019s microwave radiometer<\/a> (MWR) allows mission scientists to peer beneath Jupiter\u2019s cloud tops and probe the structure of its numerous vortex storms. The most famous of these storms is the iconic anticyclone known as the Great Red Spot. Wider than Earth, this crimson vortex has intrigued scientists since its discovery almost two centuries ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new results show that the cyclones are warmer on top, with lower atmospheric densities, while they are colder at the bottom, with higher densities. Anticyclones, which rotate in the opposite direction, are colder at the top but warmer at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The findings also indicate these storms are far taller than expected, with some extending 60 miles (100 kilometers) below the cloud tops and others, including the Great Red Spot, extending over 200 miles (350 kilometers). This surprise discovery demonstrates that the vortices cover regions beyond those where water condenses and clouds form, below the depth where sunlight warms the atmosphere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The height and size of the Great Red Spot means the concentration of atmospheric mass within the storm potentially could be detectable by instruments studying Jupiter\u2019s gravity field. Two close Juno flybys over Jupiter\u2019s most famous spot provided the opportunity to search for the storm\u2019s gravity signature and complement the MWR results on its depth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With Juno traveling low over Jupiter\u2019s cloud deck at about 130,000 mph (209,000 kph) Juno scientists were able to measure velocity changes as small 0.01 millimeter per second using a NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network tracking antenna, from a distance of more than 400 million miles (650 million kilometers). This enabled the team to constrain the depth of the Great Red Spot to about 300 miles (500 kilometers) below the cloud tops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe precision required to get the Great Red Spot\u2019s gravity during the July 2019 flyby is staggering,\u201d said Marzia Parisi, a Juno scientist from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and lead author of a paper in the Journal Science on gravity overflights of the Great Red Spot. \u201cBeing able to complement MWR\u2019s finding on the depth gives us great confidence that future gravity experiments at Jupiter will yield equally intriguing results.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Belts and Zones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to cyclones and anticyclones, Jupiter is known for its distinctive belts and zones \u2013 white and reddish bands of clouds that wrap around the planet. Strong east-west winds moving in opposite directions separate the bands. Juno previously discovered that these winds, or jet streams, reach depths of about 2,000 miles (roughly 3,200 kilometers). Researchers are still trying to solve the mystery of how the jet streams form. Data collected by Juno\u2019s MWR during multiple passes reveal one possible clue: that the atmosphere\u2019s ammonia gas travels up and down in remarkable alignment with the observed jet streams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy following the ammonia, we found circulation cells in both the north and south hemispheres that are similar in nature to \u2018Ferrel cells,\u2019 which control much of our climate here on Earth\u201d, said Keren Duer, a graduate student from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and lead author of the Journal Science paper on Ferrel-like cells on Jupiter. \u201cWhile Earth has one Ferrel cell per hemisphere, Jupiter has eight \u2013 each at least 30 times larger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Juno\u2019s MWR data also shows that the belts and zones undergo a transition around 40 miles (65 kilometers) beneath Jupiter\u2019s water clouds. At shallow depths, Jupiter\u2019s belts are brighter in microwave light than the neighboring zones. But at deeper levels, below the water clouds, the opposite is true \u2013 which reveals a similarity to our oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are calling this level the \u2018Jovicline\u2019 in analogy to a transitional layer seen in Earth\u2019s oceans, known as the thermocline \u2013 where seawater transitions sharply from being relative warm to relative cold,\u201d said Leigh Fletcher, a Juno participating scientist from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and lead author of the paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets highlighting Juno\u2019s microwave observations of Jupiter’s temperate belts and zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Polar Cyclones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Juno previously discovered polygonal arrangements<\/a> of giant cyclonic storms at both of Jupiter\u2019s poles \u2013 eight arranged in an octagonal pattern in the north and five arranged in a pentagonal pattern in the south. Now, five years later, mission scientists using observations by the spacecraft\u2019s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) have determined these atmospheric phenomena are extremely resilient, remaining in the same location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJupiter\u2019s cyclones affect each other\u2019s motion, causing them to oscillate about an equilibrium position,\u201d said Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome and lead author of a recent paper in Geophysical Research Letters on oscillations and stability in Jupiter\u2019s polar cyclones. \u201cThe behavior of these slow oscillations suggests that they have deep roots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n JIRAM data also indicates that, like hurricanes on Earth, these cyclones want to move poleward, but cyclones located at the center of each pole push them back. This balance explains where the cyclones reside and the different numbers at each pole.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014NASA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" m NASA\u2019s Juno probe orbiting Jupiter provide a fuller picture of how the planet\u2019s distinctive and colorful atmospheric features offer clues about the unseen processes below its clouds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-space-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",985,895,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-200x200.png",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-440x400.png",440,400,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-768x698.png",750,682,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-675x613.png",675,613,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",985,895,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",985,895,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",880,800,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",627,570,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",600,545,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",600,545,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-760x490.png",760,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-550x360.png",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-95x65.png",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",640,582,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",96,87,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon.png",150,136,false]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Research<\/a> Space\/ AstroPhysics<\/a>","tag_info":"Space\/ AstroPhysics","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/3d-view-of-jupiter-moon-675x613.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n